After a wreck in the I-93 tunnels under downtown Boston, an excess verdict is a jury award or court judgment that comes in higher than the at-fault driver's insurance policy limits.

Here is why that matters: if the injured person offered to settle within the available coverage and the insurance company unreasonably refused, the insurer may have created a much bigger problem for its own policyholder. Example: a driver carries Massachusetts' bare-minimum 20/40/5 liability coverage, causes a serious crash, and the case later ends with a verdict far above that amount. That gap between the policy limits and the verdict is the excess. In a bad-faith dispute, that excess can become the key number in proving the insurer mishandled the claim.

For an injury claim, this changes strategy fast. A plaintiff's lawyer may make a clear policy-limits demand early, especially when fault and damages are obvious. If the carrier stalls, ignores medical records, or lowballs the case, an excess verdict can support a later bad faith claim under Massachusetts law, including Chapter 93A and Chapter 176D. For injured people, it can increase pressure on the insurer to pay fairly. For insured drivers, it can mean personal exposure unless the insurer's conduct shifts responsibility back onto the carrier. In most Massachusetts injury cases, the lawsuit deadline is three years, so delay can cost leverage as well as time.