Uninsured Motorist Insurance and Underinsured Motorist Insurance

When an at-fault driver refuses does not carry any liability insurance on his motor vehicle, he puts more than just him- or herself at risk. If the at-fault driver injures you, there will not be any automobile insurance to cover your damages. However, you may still have a personal injury claim that we can recover monetary damages for. Very simply, I look to your own auto insurance to see if you have uninsured motorist coverage. Similarly, if the at-fault driver has insurance but not enough to cover your compensatory damages, I can use your own auto insurance to recover underinsured motorist benefits once the policy limits for the tortfeasor’s coverage has been exhausted. If you have been involved in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver, it is important to contact an attorney at Desmond Law Offices in Louisville, Kentucky or Floyds Knobs, Indiana, to evaluate your personal injury claim. I can be reached at (502) 609-7657 or 855-REACH-MY-CELL.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage

PROTECTING KENTUCKY AND INDIANA CAR WRECK VICTIMS

Uninsured Motorist Coverage protects you when the automobile accident happens and the at-fault driver does not have any liability insurance on his or her automobile. While it is illegal to drive a car without insurance, it is a common occurrence on Kentucky and Indiana roadways.

For example, assume that while driving home on a Saturday night you had a car wreck with a drunk driver. Now assume that the drunk driver did not pay the premium for his automobile insurance in a timely manner and was cancelled by his insurance company. While the drunk driver will most likely face criminal charges stemming from this automobile accident and his intoxication, the real question is what about the damages he has caused you because of this car crash.

If the drunk driver did not pay his auto insurance premiums, it is very unlikely that he has insurance coverage for this car wreck. Consequently, how is he going to pay for your personal injury damages such as:
  1. medical expenses;
  2. your time off from work;
  3. the property damage to your car;
  4. your rental car;
  5. and out-of-pocket expenses.
Yes, you can sue the drunk driver for all your compensatory and punitive damages! However, what good does it do you to obtain a Judgment (basically a piece of paper that says you are owed money) if he has no money, assets or a home that can be used to pay for your personal injury damages. The key to preventing this type of situation is to have purchased Uninsured Motorist Coverage from your automobile insurance company.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage allows my client to recover their damages, stemming from a car wreck, from his/her own car insurance company. Your car insurance company, whether it be by a personal injury settlement or through a lawsuit, is responsible for the damages the drunk driver was legally responsible. While your insurance company will still argue with me about the extent of your medical and other damages, the reasonableness of your damages, the liability of the other driver and other items, uninsured motorist coverage provides a definite monetary source from which you can recover your damages. Without it, your only option is to sue the drunk driver, hope he has some assets and hope any Judgment you obtain is not discharged when he files Bankruptcy.

CAN YOU REJECT YOUR UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE?

 Yes, legally your can reject this type of insurance coverage but, I would never recommend it. Instead, make sure you specifically ask for this insurance coverage and never sign anything wherein you are waiving this type of automobile nsurance coverage. In short, if you don’t have this insurance coverage, you may save yourself a couple of hundred dollars a year for a huge risk to you and your family in the event of a serious automobile accident.

HOW MUCH UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE DO I NEED?

 The amount of the coverage depends upon your financial needs and how much you can afford. I would suggest you discuss this issue with your insurance agent. However, I reasonably recommend that everyone carry at least $100,000 per person in uninsured motorist coverage. My reasoning being that if you do not have health insurance, this amount gives me the greatest chance of getting your medical bills paid should you be involved in a serious automobile accident. Recall that I am trying to make sure that you are protected when the car wreck results in surgery, loss of limbs or hospitalizations.

I WAS IN A CAR WRECK WITH AN UNINSURED MOTORIST, NOW WHAT DO I DO?

 Call me at (502) 609-7657 or 855-REACHMYCELL. It is my job to make sure that the at-fault driver was truly uninsured. Don’t assume that the other driver is truly uninsured for the following reason: 1) he might not have actually owned the vehicle; 2) he might have been working for an employer at the time of the car accident thereby putting the employer’s coverage on the hook and; 3) had coverage through a policy in the household . There are several ways in which someone can have insurance which may not be obvious.

UNDERINSURED MOTORIST BENEFITS, PROTECTION AGAINST

“Minimum Coverage for Minimum Budgets”

 We have all heard the TV commercials wherein SAFE AUTO INSURANCE COMPANY advertises minimum insurance coverage for minimum budgets. However, do you really understand what this means?

Both Kentucky and Indiana law require that a car driver only carry insurance coverage in an amount of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per automobile accident. The first number, $25,000, is the maximum amount that insurance company will pay to any one person when a car wreck occurs. When they pay this amount out, it is called paying their policy limits. The second number, $50,000, is the maximum amount that the insurance company will pay no matter how many people are injured in the automobile accident. So if twenty-five people are seriously hurt in a single auto accident, the insurance company will still only pay out a maximum of $50,000 for the claims of all twenty-five people.

THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT THE AT-FAULT DRIVER HAS INSURANCE COVERAGE TO PAY YOUR MEDICAL BILLS, LOST WAGES, OR YOUR CLAIM FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING.

 Let’s assume that you and your spouse are driving on Interstate 64 when another driver crosses the center-line and hits your vehicle head-on. The accident is severe and you are both taken to the trauma center of the University of Louisville Hospital. You undergo surgery for several broken bones and are told you have a closed-head injury. Your spouse, is treated and released. You are finally released from the hospital after 10 days and you are told you should not go back to work for four weeks. Further, when you open arrive home from the hospital and open the mailbox, you open a medical bill from U of L Hospital for $35,000.

In the upcoming weeks you receive several other bills from the emergency room doctors, the MRI provider, for a CT scan and from the X-ray physicians. In total, your bills come up to over $42,000. To date, your wife has incurred about $10,000 in medical expenses between the emergency room visit, an MRI and continuing chiropractic care. The problem is clear. If the at-fault driver is only insured to the extent required by Kentucky or Indiana law, your medical bills alone exceed that insurance coverage.

Kentucky and Indiana law allow a person to drive around with $25,000 in insurance which is not enough to pay your medical expenses or the other aspects of your claim. In this example, you have $42,000 in medical bills alone. YOU, not the at-fault driver, are going to be responsible for over $17,000 in medical expenses for an accident that was not your fault. Further, the lost wages you incurred while you were off from work and your claim for pain and suffering have not even been addressed yet. Perhaps your spouse’s claim can be settled for less than the other $25,000 in insurance coverage on the at-fault driver. However, it is clear that the value of your claim far exceeds the insurance coverage on the other driver.

YES, YOU CAN SUE THE AT-FAULT DRIVER FOR ALL OF YOUR DAMAGES.

 If the at-fault driver only has his MINIMUM COVERA GE on his car, it is very unlikely that he has a big bank account, a home, or other assets which can be used to satisfy any legal Judgment you might obtain.

The Solution:

EVERYONE NEEDS TO MAKE SURE THEY HAVE UNDERINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE ON EVERY AUTOMOBILE/MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE POLICY THEY HAVE.


Basically, underinsured motorist coverage transfers THE RISK THAT THE AT-FAULT DRIVER DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH INSURANCE COVERAGE TO YOUR OWN INSURANCE COMPANY.

Underinsured Motorist Coverage allows me, as your lawyer, to make a claim on your behalf against the at-fault driver and your own insurance company. Basically, this coverage takes away the risk that the at-fault driver can not fully pay your claim. It gives me a source from which I can recover, on your behalf, your medical bills, lost wages, future medical expenses and claim for pain and suffering.

Without Underinsured Motorist Coverage, you are gambling that the at-fault driver has enough coverage to pay your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and other damages. My recommendation is that every car or motorcycle owned by you or your business be insured for at least $100,000 of Underinsured Motorist Coverage per person. If you can afford more coverage, buy it!

Stacking Insurance Coverage

Kentucky law allows stacking of uninsured and underinsured motorist benefits depending upon how the insurance policy is written. Indiana does not allow insurance policies to be stacked. Simply put, stacking refers to recovering insurance polices from more than one applicable policy. By stacking coverage from more than one auto insurance policy — or coverage for more than one car on a single policy — the injured party can increase the total amount of his recovery, assuming the value of his claim is worth more than the just the initial insurance policy. Stacking a policy is not necessarily an easy thing to do and if there is stackable insurance, there are still procedures that must be followed to recover from all the applicable policies. Please contact me at (502) 609-7657 or 855-REACHMYCELL and we can examine your auto insurance to see if it can stacked.

Contact an Attorney

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage protects accident victims when they are most vulnerable. Not every policy has such coverage, however, and the victim’s approach to the situation can change the level of compensation he or she receives. Indeed, some rules do not require the victim’s insurance company to pay the victim if the victim settles prematurely with the at-fault motorist’s insurance company. This is why it is so important to work with an experienced attorney from Desmond Law Offices in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Kentucky State Bar requires me to say that COURT COSTS AND CASE EXPENSES WILL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CLIENT.

The Desmond Law Office is a Louisville, Kentucky personal injury firm that focuses the practice on motorcycle, trucking, and auto accidents. We offer effective and aggressive legal representation to accident victims and their families. If you've been injured in a car, motorcycle or tractor trailer wreck, contact us now for a free case review.