The last holiday weekend of the summer is here. With it comes all the good things we love about summer. Barbecues, college football and unfortunately, drinking. I thought I would take a minute to help you navigate the tricky waters of a being hit by someone that was DUI.

Let me be clear, this is not for someone who is DUI to find out tricks on how to get off with the least penalty possible. I despise DUI’s and frankly, I have no sympathy if you choose to drive under the influence. This post is designed to give tips to those hurt by DUI’s a little more leverage to get greater compensation.

If you take a DUI case to court, the judge will instruct the jury to award what is called punitive or exemplary damages. This is defined as compensation in excess of actual damages. That means the jury is instructed to penalize the DUI defendant extra just because he was DUI. This is to send a message to the DUI defendant that what he did was more than just an accident, but his actions to drive under the influence are socially wrong.

But what responsibility does the insurance company have in paying out punitive damages? None. In your policy, it will specifically outline some things that the insurance company will be exempt from paying. Punitive damages is one thing that will be in your policy that the insurance company will not have to pay for. However, I’m going to teach you how to get punitive damages out of the insurance company anyway without having to go to court.

You see, the insurance company has an obligation to try and settle the claim within their insureds policy limits. If they cannot settle the claim within their insureds policy limits, they have failed to protect their insured from financial exposure. Depending on the circumstances on why they did not settle the claim, the insurance company may be exposed to a bad faith lawsuit. I won’t explain that here because it’s complicated, but lets just say a bad faith lawsuit is the last thing any insurance company wants.

This is how you can twist the arm of the insurance company to pay out “punitive” damages. They won’t call it punitive damages, but you will get extra in your settlement for their insured being DUI. Point out to the adjuster that no one likes a drunk driver and if they don’t increase their settlement offer significantly higher, you will have no problem filing a lawsuit against their drunk ass driver. You have to really be willing to file a lawsuit against a DUI. If you show any signs of weakness, the adjuster will not give you what you are asking for. The reason they do not want to represent their DUI in court is they know they will have a hard time winning over a jury.

If you play hardball and really threaten a lawsuit (that may mean hiring an attorney), you will most certainly get an award larger than the average settlement. It’s not uncommon to get a few thousand dollars more than the average and I’ve seen awards tens of thousands of dollars higher than non-DUI cases.

If you are the one that is DUI, look out because you or your insurance company will pay for your bad choices.