In Allen v. Moyer, the Supreme Court denied a personal injury claim because the same parties had previously litigated a vehicle damage claim in small claims court.  The Court said that under Utah law, a party must bring all claims, arising out of the same occurrence, in one lawsuit.  Because the plaintiff had already filed a lawsuit in small claims for vehicle damage, the second lawsuit for personal injuries would not be allowed.

I personally don’t like the decision.  Even so, I can’t criticize the court for not correctly applying the law.  Ancient Utah cases lead to this conclusion.  The problem with the decision is that it gives insurance companies too much power to low ball.

When I started practicing law, 17 years ago, it was fairly common for insurance companies to use Kelly’s Blue Book when determining the fair value of a vehicle.  Insurance companies then moved to NADA values.  This was to their advantage, because NADA values are consistently lower than Blue Book values.  About 10 years ago, they moved to an appraisal system.  Almost all Utah insurance companies use the same appraisal service. The service gives a written opinion regarding the value of a car.  The appraisals are always lower than Blue Book and NADA.

When someone’s car is totalled and they don’t think the insurance company is offering fair value, small claims seems like a logical choice.  The car owner can sue for up to $10,000 in small claims.  The small claims judge can look at Blue Book, NADA, the appraisal and any other evidence and give an opinion as to the value of the car.  This is a fairly inexpensive process and goes rather quickly.

The new Supreme Court opinion prevents people with personal injuries from pursuing this route.  If they do, they will give up any claim for the personal injury.  Because personal injury lawsuits typically involve more money, that is not a good option.  Unfortunately, personal injury lawsuits also take longer to resolve.  This make force the injured person to either accept the low ball offer or wait a long time to get the matter before the same judge who decides the personal injury claim.

The legislature could fix this problem.  I suggest they do.  A bill could be introduced to specifically allow personal injury victims to pursue their vehicle damage claim in small claims while preserving their claim for personal injuries.