VI. Loss of Consortium Claims

• Library: The Law of Automobile Insurance in SC (SCBar) (2015 Ed.)

VI. Loss of Consortium Claims

In Cummings v. Horace Mann Insurance Co. ,¹³⁷ the Fourth Circuit held that a wife was not entitled to recover for consequential damages for loss of consortium where her husband had settled his claim.

In Russo v. Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co.,¹³⁸ the court clarified the recovery possible for a plaintiff claiming damages for loss of consortium that were in excess of what the plaintiff's wife recovered from the at-fault insurer and her UIM insurer. The plaintiff claimed that he was entitled to UIM benefits because of his loss of consortium was an injury sustained when his wife was injured; thus, he was entitled to UIM benefits because the per accident maximum was not yet reached. Russo argued that the legislature's use of the word "damages"...