Med Pay, Liability Insurance, Uninsured, Underinsured Motorists and Excess Liability
There are several types of insurance that may be available to help pay for your personal injuries that were suffered in an automobile accident or other wreck. “Med pay” are benefits on your own insurance policy that may provide money to pay for medical bills. Med pay is usually available regardless of who is at fault for the wreck. You will need to look closely at your declaration sheet and insurance policy to determine when these benefits are payable and the amount of benefits that are payable.
Another form of insurance available for a personal injury case is liability insurance carried by the defendant or wrongdoer in your case. It is important to determine the exact amount of liability insurance coverage available, including whether or not stacking (or counting multiple policies) is available. Only by getting a certified copy of the entire policy and the declaration sheet are you able to determine whether or not there is liability coverage that can compensate you for your injuries. In car wreck cases, liability insurance can range from $25,000 per person coverage to $500,000 per person coverage. Missouri law requires that motorists carry a minimum of $25,000 of liability insurance to compensate for personal injuries.
Underinsured coverage is another type of insurance that is available on your own car insurance. Underinsured coverage kicks in when the other driver does not have enough insurance. It is important to determine whether or not there is a provision that your insurance company will get a set off, or a reduction, of the underinsured coverage based upon what the defendant’s liability insurance provides. Examples of underinsured coverage would be when the defendant only has $25,000 worth of liability coverage and the injuries to the plaintiff are in excess of $100,000. It is vitally important that you purchase as much underinsured coverage as possible.
An additional type of insurance available for personal injuries is uninsured motorist coverage. This situation arises when the car that struck the plaintiff is not insured. The plaintiff’s own insurance kicks in to cover the personal injuries.
One final type of insurance available in personal injury cases is an excess liability policy. Many defendants often recognize before a wreck that an automobile accident can cause horrific damages and even death. That is why insurance companies sell excess liability policies often in the amounts of $1 million or $3 million. This excess liability insurance would stack on top of the normal liability insurance policies, which are frequently available in the amounts of $100,000 or $500,000. Without digging deep into the insurance policies, many lawyers simply will accept the liability policy limits in catastrophic cases without determining if there is an excess policy.
If you have questions about insurance for your personal injury, please call our firm for a free consultation.
Call 816-931-0048 NOW, For Your Free Personal Consultation!