Tort Law

Brien Roche

This page within Virginia Tort Case Law is a compilation of cases reported by the Virginia Supreme Court and summarized by Brien Roche dealing with the topic of Uninsured Motorist-Consent to Settle.  

1995 Osborne v. National Union Fire Ins., 251 Va. 53, 465 S.E.2d 835. 

Insurer may deny uninsured motorist coverage to insured on grounds that insured settled with another insurer without uninsured motorist carrier’s consent, even though there is no showing of prejudice. 

1994 Erie Ins. Exch. v. Shapiro, 248 Va. 638, 450 S.E.2d 144. 

Erie insured filed suit against other motorist and John Doe, alleging joint and several liability. Insured then settled with other driver. Erie invoked consent to settlement clause in policy, saying that uninsured motorist claim was therefore barred. Since consent of Erie was not obtained for settlement, further claim against Erie is barred under terms of policy. 

1988 Virginia Farm Bur. v. Gibson, 236 Va. 433, 374 S.E.2d 58. 

Clause in policy requiring insured to secure consent of insurer prior to settlement with anyone who may be legally liable for causing injury is valid as is subrogation clause in policy. In this case, plaintiff settled with co-defendant thereby barring carrier’s subrogation rights. This was in violation of policy and therefore plaintiff’s uninsured motorist claim is barred.

For more information on traffic collisions see the pages on Wikipedia.