Cork woman wins battle with US insurer

A 60-year-old Irish woman with no college degree or legal training has successfully argued a case against her insurance company before the Washington state Supreme Court.

Mary Mulcahy has spent several years trying to get Farmers Insurance to pay her more than US 100,000 (€80,300) for injuries she suffered in a car crash in the Canadian province of British Columbia in 1994.

Two lower courts in Washington state ruled against her, but on Thursday, the Supreme Court in the north-west US state unanimously reversed those decisions and said she was entitled to a maximum of that amount.

It sent the case back to King County Superior Court for a trial, “consistent with this opinion” to determine how much she should receive.

“Oh no, I didn’t do anything,” she said when asked how she celebrated the ruling.

“I probably was more dumbfounded and shocked that a court had really listened to me. I was really pleased about that, and thankful that in my view the court cared about the people of Washington.”

Mulcahy, who lives in Seattle, was driving in Vancouver, British Columbia, in May 1994, when another driver pulled out in front of her. She collided with the car, but the other driver was determined to be at fault. She was hospitalised and diagnosed with a broken sternum, and she said she has suffered lingering medical problems and pain since the accident.

Farmers’ refusal to pay caused her to lose her home and live in her car, as well as transitional housing, she said.

Currently on disability, she lives in government-subsidised housing.

Her legal odyssey began when Farmers claimed it was not obligated to pay out a portion of her insurance claim because she is not from British Columbia.

But the state Supreme Court said Farmers had agreed to pay its US customers up to $100,000 (€80,300) if they are in an accident caused by a British Columbia driver.

Unable to afford a lawyer or find one to take her case on contingency, she began researching the legal issues.

Mulcahy, who left Midleton in Co Cork in the 1960s for Italy, Germany and Canada before moving to the United States in 1993, had worked as a claims administrator for a freight company, so she had some basic familiarity with the subject.

She had taken some college courses but never obtained a degree, she said.

“I found the Supreme Court justices were really nice. They were really gracious, and I appreciated the way they treated me. I wish I could have answered their questions more fully, but you don’t really know when you should say more or when you should say less.”

Mulcahy said she’s not sure what the next step in her saga will be she doesn’t know whether Farmers will pay without going to a new trial.

A lawyer representing Farmers could not be reached for comment.