Personal Injury Law

TN Supreme Court Case Affirms New Cause of Action

The Tennessee Supreme Court has established that a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress is a separate stand alone cause of action. Okay, so what does that mean and what is the big deal? Generally, each insurance policy has a limit of coverage for each person. If someone is killed in a car wreck the limit for the death may just be $100,000.00 under the insurance. Obviously, if you have lost the family wage earner the family will need all the financial help they can get. As such, it is important to obtain the full recovery under the insurance policies. This seperate cause of action is often a way to increase the recovery.

One way we have been able to increase the policy coverage is under the now recognized separated claim . Specifically, if a person witnesses a tragedy involving a loved one they may be able to recover additional compensation for seeing that tragic loss. This is obviously not going to make up for any emotional loss but it may help recover some of the financial hardship. I know that if something happened to me i want my family to get all they can to help them through life without me.

I have now had a couple of wrongful death cases where we were able to double the financial recovery under this law. It is not available in every Tennessee wrongful death or serious injury case but it is important to look for it. If you have questions about this newly recognized separate claim feel free to give my Tennessee Law Office a call.

Full post as published by Tennessee Law Blog on May 09, 2009 (boomark / email).