JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The State of Missouri is offering help to tort victims who received little or none of the compensation awarded to them by the courts.
Tort victims are individuals who don’t receive awarded compensation after suffering injuries from others who were uninsured or who had inadequate insurance. Examples are victims of motor vehicle or hunting accidents. Juries often award appropriate damages, but then little or none of those damages are actually collected.
That’s where the state steps in. The Missouri Labor Department’s Division of Worker’s compensation (DWC) is issuing over $2.4-million to 62 tort victims who filed claims against the Tort Victims’ Compensation fund in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Department Director Larry Rebman said, “The money sent out to these claimants from the Fund will help them pay medical bills and take care of some of their expenses.”
The Tort Victims’ Compensation Fund is solely generated by a portion of monies paid as punitive damages in civil lawsuits in Missouri. A recent case resulted in a large amount of damages awarded which was then placed into the Fund. Until this recent deposit, the Fund only contained enough funds to pay claims up to 2005.
This distribution is the largest since the fund began accepting claims in 2001, with the largest payout of 21.1 cents on the dollar. The average payout is 8.05 cents on the dollar.
A 26-year-old woman from Independence, Mo., filed a claim against the fund after she was injured in a 2007 traffic crash in which another driver made a u-turn without warning. The woman suffered a fractured pelvis and right femur and was unable to work to support herself. Most of the $75-thousand she received from insurance went to pay medical bills and attorney fees. She lives on less than $1,000 per month from Social Security Disability, but she will receive $63-thousand from the fund.
The Independence woman said, “This accident took away everything from me. It robbed me of the job I loved and the ability to hang out with my friends and family and go as I please. I feel helpless that I am unable to work and provide for myself. Even though I am severely in debt due to this accident, with this money I can at least start taking care of some of the bills that have been piling high.”
The Tort Victims’ Compensation Fund cannot provide full compensation to injured people, but it does provide a mechanism to replace part of their income.
The Missouri Tort Victims’ Compensation Fund was created by the legislature in 1987. Since the inception of the Fund, 503 tort victims have received over $8.7-million. The one-time only payments the recent claimants will receive from the fund range from $3,231.46 - $63,304.71.
To file a claim against the Tort Victims’ Compensation Fund, call 573-751-4231 or visit
http://www.labor.mo.gov/wc/tort/index.htm.
