Insurance Firm Reconsidering Previous Settlement After Boy’s Shooting Death

The family of an 8-year-old Imperial Beach boy who died a week ago after he was accidentally shot in a neighbor’s house might not receive a $225,000 settlement from an insurance company for injuries the boy suffered in a car accident more than two years ago.

Charles B. Pederson, a La Jolla attorney representing the parents of the child, Richard Krecklow II, said Tuesday that the day before the boy was shot, his parents had accepted an offer from State Farm Insurance to settle the auto accident case.

But the insurance company, the lawyer said, has told him it is reevaluating the settlement because the boy is dead and because the settlement was never approved in Superior Court.

Pederson said that, although the agreement was not in writing, it is not unusual to handle personal-injury settlements over the phone.

“We’re looking at a classical loophole, and they’re trying to take advantage of it,” he said. “We had a binding agreement, and they reconfirmed it.”

State Farm representatives refused to comment on the case. But the San Diego Tribune reported Tuesday that Maureen Lough, a State Farm claims supervisor, challenged the accuracy of reports that the boy’s family was told their claim was no longer valid.

On Dec. 7, 1987, Krecklow was struck by a car while in a crosswalk at 3rd and K streets in Chula Vista, Pederson said. The child was cut and bruised and had scars over much of his body after being dragged 120 feet. The driver was insured by State Farm.

A personal-injury claim was under negotiation for the past six months, according to Pederson. An offer from the insurance company, calling for payments over 22 years, was made in late February and was accepted by Richard and Cynthia Krecklow on March 5.

However, on March 6, their son and a 10-year-old girl were looking at guns in a back bedroom of the girl’s home in the 500 block of 10th Street in Imperial Beach when a .22-caliber rifle was fired, wounding the boy in the head. He died a day later.

After the death, a claims adjuster for the insurance company called, offered her condolences, and reconfirmed the settlement, Pederson said.

Last Thursday, however, she told the family that State Farm was reconsidering the settlement and might not pay, Pederson said. She said an attorney had told the company it did not have to pay because the boy had died and that the settlement had not been approved in Superior Court. According to state law, a monetary settlement to a minor must be approved by a Superior Court judge, Pederson said.

Ronald Pinsky, a Solana Beach attorney who specializes in personal-injury accidents, said such settlements are typically negotiated over the phone and are finalized when the claims adjuster sends the attorney representing the injured party a check and a release form.

“A draft or check and a release form is sent to the lawyer with the understanding that before the funds are disbursed, the victim will sign a release form which releases the driver from further legal action and accepts the draft as a final settlement,” he said. “A deal is a deal.”

Pinsky said he was speaking generally about personal-injury cases, and did not refer specifically to the Krecklow matter.

If State Farm decides not to pay the settlement, Pederson said, he will petition the court to enforce the verbal agreement made with the family.

Pederson said the family is “shocked and upset about State Farm’s decision, but the scope of what happened to Richard pales in comparison.”