When you purchase a car insurance policy, you are essentially entering an agreement with the insurance company that you agree to pay a premium in exchange for a guarantee of coverage for certain types of damages up to a certain amount per incident. This maximum amount is known as your “policy limit,” and every car insurance policy has one. Unfortunately, car accidents are becoming increasingly common, and with rising costs of medical care and car repair, a staggering number of drivers are woefully underinsured, or have a policy whose limit is too low for their actual liability in the event they are in some way responsible for an action.
This can severely impact accident victims, who have the legal right to compensation for their losses when they are injured in an accident that isn’t their fault. When a policy limit is too low, you may not be able to recover compensation that completely covers your losses that you sustain as a part of the accident. This leaves you footing the bill for the remainder of your expenses, which could be thousands of extra dollars that would come out of your pocket.
What Can You Do?
If you have been seriously injured in a car accident, the first thing you should do is review your options with a Louisville car accident attorney. The legal team at Bahe, Cook, Cantley & Nefzger, PLC can provide you with both legal counsel and advice throughout every step of your car accident claim as well as protect your rights form insurance companies who might try to use bad-faith tactics or early settlement offers to try to reduce their responsibility to pay (which happens far more than you might think). When you encounter an underinsured driver, you don’t have to worry about their policy limit if you have an attorney on your side—they’ll fight to help you get the compensation you deserves, regardless of the terms of the negligent party’s policy.
Second, you can also go a step further to protect yourself even before being involved in the accident in the first place. Most insurance policies will offer uninsured and underinsured driver coverage. These types of coverage essentially do the same thing: protect you against drivers who don’t have adequate insurance to cover the full cost of your losses in the event of an accident. This way, when your losses reach the limit on the other driver’s policy, you can file an underinsured motorist claim on your own policy, which will then fill in the gap between where their policy ends and how much you need, up to your own policy’s limits. This type of insurance usually costs just a few extra dollars per month, and could wind up making the difference between getting coverage for your losses or being stuck with a massive bill at the end of your car accident case.
Need representation after being injured in a car accident? Call Bahe, Cook, Cantley & Nefzger, PLC today at {F:P:Site:Phone} and schedule a case evaluation to get help dealing with the financially liable insurance companies!