Air Force veteran Larry Caldwell usually spends the weekend with his 'Rolling Thunder' buddies. Lately, though, instead of riding his motorcycle with the guys, he’s relying on a walker.

In April, Caldwell was riding his motorcycle when a driver hit him in.

  • Larry Caldwell, an Air Force veteran, was involved in an accident
  • The April collision has resulted in $600K in medical bills
  • He recently found out the other driver was dropped by their insurance five days before the crash

He stopped breathing at the scene, but paramedics were able to resuscitate him before he was airlifted to the hospital.

"I was in the hospital for a month and a half,” Caldwell said. “I have had eight surgeries on my leg."

Caldwell now spends his time going to physical therapy and doctor’s appointments. He still may need more surgery. So far, he estimates his medical care has cost about $600,000.

Caldwell filed a claim through the other driver’s insurance, but received a letter that said his claim was denied.

The insurance company said its records indicate that another driver was driving the car five days before Caldwell was hit. That driver was not on the policy when they got into a small crash, so the insurance company dropped the car owner's policy.

Under Florida Statute 627, the insurance company can deny Caldwell’s claim.

“This law is totally unfair, to us, to you, to everybody here because we cannot take any action at all once the insurance company cancels,” Caldwell said. “I can’t take action, no one can take action, against the insurance company.”

Personal injury attorney Dennis Hernandez, who is not involved in Caldwell’s case, said his office sees this happen all the time.

"I would purchase uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage on your policy,” Hernandez said. “It’s a little bit more money, it’s not as much as the underlying bodily coverage, but it is more money. But I have found there are so many motor vehicle collisions and such a high chance of being in a motor vehicle collision that sometimes it’s your own recourse to be able to recover if you’re severely injured."

It’s too late for Caldwell to do that for his claim, but he said he will fight for change.

"My next step right now is to start talking to our senators and congressmen on this,” Caldwell said. “This is the only way to keep pressure on them about this law and that it’s got to be changed, totally dropped off the books."