Court: Insurer Has Paid Enough

An insurance company doesn’t have to pay another $50,000 toward the medical expense of a woman covered by an underinsured motorist policy, the Idaho Supreme Court says.

In a Kootenai County case, Kiere Shaw was injured in a traffic accident that left her with $155,000 in medical expense. Sublimity Insurance Co., who insured her under a $100,000 policy, paid $5,000 in medical expense but refused to pay more than $45,000 above that. Another party’s insurance policy also paid $50,000.

In a unanimous decision Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled the policy stated that Sublimity was required to pay only an amount to bring the total recovery to $100,000, not $100,000 in addition to other payments.