Is my baby who was a passenger in a car accident entitled to compensation from my insurance company?

A lot depends on if you took your baby to a physician or emergency room for evaluation. Pain and suffering might be hard to prove at this point, because he or she is presumably too young to be able to say the pain, agony, suffering, inconvenience your baby went through. In addition, if there was no medical treatment, it would also be hard for any physician to testify as to the trauma your baby endured. However, with that being said, you are pursuing a UM claim. Because this claim is against your own carrier, they have certain obligations, including a duty to process this claim in good faith. This means that unlike a situation involving a third party, your insurance carrier should be more liberal in this claim. If you have a reasonable basis to assert that your baby suffered pain and other consequences, they should be offering you something in my opinion.

Yes, your baby has a claim but only if she has suffered physical injury. You should take her to a pediatrician to determine if she has suffered injury. Hope this helps.

What your adjuster has said is true--if your baby did not suffer any injuries, you may not collect damages on his or her behalf. You can make an argument for negligent infliction of emotional distress, but even this will be difficult to prove, since you will have to demonstrate that the accident has had an ongoing psychological effect on your child. If you CAN document that your child sustained a physical injury, this would be collectable, but it doesn't seem like any such evidence exists.

Generally speaking, any occupant in your car would be entitled to recover for damages under your UM policy caused by the uninsured motorist. The issue is proof. What injuries did your baby sustain? Was she seen by emergency personnel or her pediatrician? Are there medical bills for those E/R or pediatric visits? If there are no physical injuries, it could be difficult to establish emotional distress or "pain and suffering", but certainly not impossible. I would also note that insurers have a "higher duty" to their own insured policy holders, and unreasonably refusing to pay for damages under your policy could violate that duty under the insurance code. My sense is that adjuster is saying that she "won't" pay for pain and suffering as opposed to she "can't". Disclaimer- The information you obtain at our web-site or through postings on such sites as this is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for specific advice regarding your individual situation. Any response given here is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change.

Not true. You should be able to get some damages for emotional distress. The adjuster is right in the sense that (believe it or not), without any medical damages or treatment, this doesn't have much value but, I still think it is worth something if you press the issue. You should also note that any settlement over $5,000 would require that you file a Petititon to Approve Minor's Compromise (i.e. motion with the court for the judge to approve the settlement), and the money would need to be deposited into a blocked account, which could only be accessed by your child and only when she turns 18.

Not true. The symptoms That you reported that your baby had after the accident may indicate injury. So you should have your pediatrician determine whether your baby suffered accident related injury.