How do insurance coverage and policy limits shape what's realistically achievable in a mediation?

Coverage is often the quiet fact that decides the whole range. Available limits, any reservation of rights, deductibles or self-insured retentions, multiple policies or layers, and who actually controls the settlement authority all set the ceiling on what a plaintiff can realistically collect — and a verdict above available coverage can be a hollow win if the defendant can't pay it. From decades on the defense side, I've learned that getting clarity on coverage early, confidentially, prevents a day of negotiating toward a number that was never reachable. Where there's a credible excess-exposure or bad-faith dimension, that changes the carrier's calculus and I'll help the parties address it directly. The goal is a settlement anchored to what can actually be funded and paid, not a paper number.