Hopefully, you are never in an automobile accident. However, statistics show that many of us will be in a car accident. Sometimes, those crashes result in serious injuries. With serious injuries come lost wages, medical bills as well as home care, nursing home costs, etc. These costs can be staggering and can have a serious impact on you and/or your family.
Often times, we are presented with this situation and the other driver having low liability limits. Sometimes, as low as $25,000. The insurance company for the negligent driver often times is willing to hand over the money in exchange for a release in which you promise not to sue the insurance company or the driver for any more than their policy limits. The problem is that the insurance may not come close to covering your damages.
For that reason, people should carry adequate amounts of uninsured insurance, which covers cases in which you are injured by an uninsured driver, and underinsured insurance, which covers damages above the amount of the other driver. This coverage is provided by your own insurance company. Even though this coverage is provided by your own insurance company they treat you as an adverse party. The money is not simply handed over. You must prove your case against your own insurance company just as you would against the negligent driver’s insurance company.
Also, depending upon the circumstances of the case, the driver may have more insurance than what is claimed. For example, the driver may have been in the scope of his employment at the time which would allow access to the employer’s liability insurance coverage. In situations when you are injured by another and you are in the scope of employment you could be entitled to additional benefits through worker’s compensation insurance coverage. Finally, sometimes accidents happen due to the negligence of somebody or something other than the driver which can entitle you to additional damages.
One big problem that I have experienced is finding out how much insurance coverage is available either by way of uninsured or underinsured as well as from the negligent driver. In one situation a few years ago, I was told by several insurance agents that my client, who was tragically killed in a motor vehicle/motorcycle accident, only had a small amount of uninsured coverage.
I couldn’t accept that response so we kept digging and digging and ultimately we found a substantial policy. Shortly thereafter, we were able to convince the insurance company to pay up! But for our willingness to roll up our sleeves and put in the hard work necessary to uncover this policy the family would have been left with virtually nothing following their parent’s death.
If you, a friend or loved one have been seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident of any type please contact me for a no cost, no obligation consultation. We accept these cases on a contingency fee basis which means you pay no fees until and only if there is a recovery. We have been representing accident victims and their families for almost three decades. At Krueger Hernandez & Thompson SC we listen, we care, we get results!
If you have any questions in the Madison area call (608) 824-8540, in the Baraboo area call (608) 356-3961 or statewide at (866) 455-2993. Of course, please feel free to email me at mark@kh-law.net with questions and check out our website at https://khtlawyers.com for more information.
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