The General Insurance and Pharmacy Liens in Personal Injury Cases

James Wong — Founder & Pharmacist, LienScripts | March 25, 2025 | 6 min read

The General Insurance specializes in non-standard, high-risk auto insurance with minimum-limit policies and low or no MedPay. When your client's accident involves a driver insured by The General, pharmacy liens become critical — the policy limits are often insufficient to cover full treatment costs, and MedPay is rarely available to fund prescriptions.

A pharmacy lien is a legal claim that allows an injured plaintiff to receive prescription medications on credit, with repayment from the eventual settlement. When the at-fault driver carries The General Insurance — a non-standard insurer known for minimum-limit policies — pharmacy liens are not just helpful but often essential, because the low policy limits and absent MedPay coverage leave no other funding mechanism for ongoing medications.

• The General Insurance is a non-standard auto insurer specializing in high-risk drivers, offering minimum-limit policies with low or no MedPay
• Minimum policy limits (often state minimums of $15,000–$25,000 bodily injury) mean the entire settlement may be insufficient to cover all medical costs
• Pharmacy liens from LienScripts ensure the client receives medications regardless of the defendant's limited coverage
• MERIT documentation — the Medication Evaluation & Rationale for Injury Treatment from LienScripts — becomes even more critical when every dollar of a small settlement must be justified
• UM/UIM claims against the client's own insurer frequently supplement The General's inadequate limits, and pharmacy lien costs strengthen the UIM demand

This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

What Makes The General Different

The General Insurance (a subsidiary of American Family Insurance Group since 2012) operates in the non-standard auto insurance market. Its policyholders are typically drivers who cannot obtain coverage from standard carriers due to driving history, credit factors, or other risk characteristics.

For personal injury attorneys, The General's relevance is straightforward: when the at-fault driver has The General, the available coverage is almost always at or near the state minimum limits. The General's business model is built on minimum-coverage policies — high volume, low limits, minimal optional coverages.

This creates a specific challenge for injured plaintiffs: the defendant's policy may not come close to covering the full scope of damages, including pharmacy costs. And because The General's own policyholders rarely carry MedPay, there is typically no first-party coverage to fund the plaintiff's prescriptions either.

[!KEY] When the at-fault driver has The General, expect minimum policy limits and no MedPay. The pharmacy lien through LienScripts may be the only mechanism available to fund the client's prescription medications during the case.

Why Pharmacy Liens Are Critical for The General Claims

In a standard PI case against a well-insured defendant, pharmacy costs are one component of a larger damages picture. In a case against a defendant insured by The General, the dynamics shift:

1. The policy limit is the ceiling. With minimum limits (often $15,000 to $25,000 per person), the total recovery is constrained. Every element of damages must be documented precisely to justify the full policy limit demand.
2. No MedPay fallback. The General's policyholders rarely purchase MedPay. If the plaintiff also lacks MedPay on their own policy, there is no insurance mechanism to fund prescriptions during the case.
3. Medication access depends on the lien. Without insurance coverage for medications, the plaintiff either pays out of pocket (which most cannot afford), goes without medications (which harms recovery and the case), or uses a pharmacy lien through LienScripts.

According to James Wong, PharmD, founder of LienScripts, "Cases involving minimum-limit insurers like The General are exactly where pharmacy liens matter most. The client has no other path to medications, and the documented prescription costs strengthen the argument for tendering the full policy limit."

Maximizing Recovery from Minimum-Limit Policies

When The General's policy limits cap the available recovery, the pharmacy lien documentation serves a strategic purpose beyond medication access: it supports the demand for the full policy limit.

Building the limit demand:

• Document every medication. Each prescription filled through LienScripts is recorded with the drug name, dosage, fill date, and cost.
• Link medications to injuries. The MERIT report maps each medication to the accident-related diagnosis code, establishing causation.
• Show the treatment arc. A chronological medication timeline demonstrates the severity and duration of the injuries — critical when arguing that damages exceed the policy limit.
• Calculate total damages exceeding limits. Present total documented damages (including pharmacy costs) to show that the policy limit does not make the plaintiff whole.

LienScripts generates a MERIT (Medication Evaluation & Rationale for Injury Treatment) report for every case, providing pharmacist-signed documentation for demand packages. In minimum-limit cases, the MERIT report helps justify the demand for full policy tender.

[!TIP] In minimum-limit cases against The General, present documented damages that significantly exceed the policy limit. This creates pressure for the full limit tender and establishes the foundation for a UIM claim against your client's own insurer.

The UIM Connection: Why Pharmacy Documentation Matters Twice

Most cases against The General-insured defendants trigger a UIM (underinsured motorist) claim against the plaintiff's own insurer. The plaintiff's documented damages exceed The General's minimum limits, and the difference is recoverable through UIM coverage.

Pharmacy lien documentation is critical in the UIM context:

1. The General claim: Pharmacy costs documented in the MERIT report support the demand for full policy limits from The General.
2. UIM claim: The same MERIT documentation supports the UIM demand against the plaintiff's own insurer, demonstrating that total damages exceed what The General paid.

The pharmacy lien costs appear in both demands, and the MERIT report serves as the pharmacy exhibit in both the liability and UIM claims.

[!KEY] In cases against The General, pharmacy lien documentation does double duty — it supports the full-limit demand against The General and strengthens the UIM claim against the plaintiff's own insurer. The MERIT report is the common exhibit across both demands.

Handling The General's Claims Process

The General's claims operation is lean and focused on volume processing. Attorneys report that The General's adjusters:

• Respond to documented demands. Like most minimum-limit carriers, The General is more likely to tender limits when presented with documented damages that clearly exceed the policy.
• Process claims through centralized operations. The General handles claims through its parent company's (American Family) claims infrastructure.
• Offer limits quickly when liability is clear. In clear-liability cases with documented damages exceeding the policy, The General often tenders limits without extended negotiation.

As Amar Lunagaria, PharmD, LienScripts' Chief Pharmacist explains, "The faster you can present organized documentation showing damages exceed the policy limit, the faster The General tenders. The MERIT report gives the adjuster the pharmacy documentation needed to justify the limit payment."

Practical Steps for Attorneys

1. Identify The General coverage immediately. Minimum limits should trigger immediate planning for UIM supplementation.
2. Enroll the client with LienScripts at intake. With no MedPay available, the pharmacy lien is the only medication access pathway.
3. Build documented damages exceeding the policy limit. Include pharmacy costs from the LienScripts MERIT report as part of the total damages calculation.
4. Demand full policy limits from The General. Present the documented damages package showing total losses well beyond the minimum limits.
5. File the UIM claim promptly. Use the same MERIT documentation to support the UIM demand against the plaintiff's own insurer.
6. Coordinate lien resolution across both recoveries. The pharmacy lien is resolved from the combined recovery (The General limits plus UIM proceeds).

Key Takeaway

The General Insurance's minimum-limit, no-MedPay policies make pharmacy liens essential — not optional — for injured plaintiffs. LienScripts provides medication access when no insurance coverage exists and generates the MERIT documentation that supports both the liability limit demand and the subsequent UIM claim. Attorneys handling cases against The General-insured defendants should enroll clients with LienScripts immediately and plan for a two-stage recovery from the outset.

Related Resources

• What Is Subrogation in Personal Injury?
• MedPay vs. PIP: Pharmacy Lien Implications