Motor Vehicle Collision / Underinsured Motorist (UIM)

Our client was riding as a passenger in a vehicle traveling through an intersection in Bend, Oregon. Another driver crossed into the intersection against a right turn only traffic control, and the vehicles collided.

The police report initially noted no injuries at the scene. But our client's symptoms didn't get better and her medical care continued well after the crash.

The central issue became the hand and wrist injury. She was still a teenager, and the injury affected her dominant side. The medical records and follow-up visits documented persistent wrist pain months after the collision, including MRI findings that raised concerns.

From a legal standpoint, the case also quickly became about available insurance. The at-fault driver's liability policy tendered its limits early, which meant the real dispute shifted to underinsured motorist coverage and what was owed under UIM, and whether the insurers would pay a fair amount without forcing arbitration.

• The crash report documented “no injuries” at the scene, even though her symptoms and treatment developed afterward.
• Her dominant hand/wrist injury lingered, with ongoing pain and limitation noted months after the collision.
• One insurer's early offer (before the case resolved) was far below what the medical record supported, creating a real gap between the lived impact and the proposed settlement value.
• The case involved multiple coverages and carriers, requiring careful coordination of a liability settlement and UIM claims.

The liability claim resolved first, with the at-fault carrier tendering the full amount available under that policy through a signed release.

From there, the case moved into underinsured motorist claims. High Desert Law gathered and submitted the accident-related medical records and bills, preserved the right to binding UIM arbitration if needed, and continued settlement discussions. When the insurers could no longer treat the case as a “minor injury” file, the UIM claims resolved by agreement instead of being forced through arbitration.

The case resolved with a combined recovery of $475,000, made up of:

• $25,000 from the at-fault driver's liability policy (the full amount available), and
• $150,000 in underinsured motorist settlement funds from one carrier across three policies, and
• $300,000 in underinsured motorist settlement funds from another carrier.

These settlements resolved the client's injury claims arising out of the crash, including the long-term dominant hand/wrist issues reflected in her medical follow-up.

For our client, the number mattered because it created room to deal with the real consequences of the injury — treatment, time away from work, and the uncertainty that comes with ongoing dominant-hand limitations at a young age. Just as important, it brought closure without putting her through an avoidable arbitration process to prove what the records already showed.