Keith & Wilson News July 2006
Warning, You May Be Under-Insured - Tips from a Personal Injury Attorney -
by W. Scott Wilson. Esq.
Virginians are underinsured. They face a significant risk of being in an accident that involves the types of injuries and medical treatment (along with other damages) that are not fully covered by their insurance coverage or that of another person. My experience leads me to believe that at least half of the time the driver, who causes the accident, does not have adequate insurance coverage to pay for the damages that he or she caused to some other citizen.
What to do? Get more insurance coverage right away. At the conclusion of this article I will give my recommendation of the minimum amount of insurance you should carry on your vehicles.
A lot of folks think that million-dollar insurance settlements and jury verdicts are commonplace. They are not. You do not want to have to sue or be sued for a million-dollar injury. Claims of this size generally are reserved for those who suffer catastrophic injuries. Money never can adequately compensate for these losses.
While million-dollar injuries are rare, claims that exceed minimum levels of insurance coverage (i.e., $25,000.00 required by Virginia law) are much, much, much, more common. Most automobile owners, who have insurance, carry only the minimum levels of coverage required by state law (the aforementioned $25,000.00). I am always surprised to see someone making a comfortable living carry the minimum legal limits of coverage, which puts him/her at risk of having to pay personally for damages that he/she or someone else suffers in an accident. For a relatively small increase in the amount of the premium one can get substantially a higher amount of insurance coverage limits. This provides the necessary protection for the automobile driver. The effect of insufficient insurance protection can be devastating, yet is so easy to avoid.
I recommend at least these levels of insurance coverage for all automobile owners:
Personal Injury Liability - $100,000 per person / $300,000 per accident
Property Damage Liability - $50,000
Medical Expense (No Fault) - $10,000
Uninsured Motorist - $100,000 per person / $300,000 per accident
Underinsured Motorist - $100,000 per person / $300,000 per accident
Further, homeowners and renters should have liability protection of at least $100,000 per person / $300,000 per accident. I’ll discuss this type of coverage in a later article.
Keith & Wilson
Attorneys At Law
Personal Injury
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Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning
2727 McRae Rd - Corner of Forest Hill and McRae
Phone (804) 272-1491
FAX (804) 272-3317
http://www.keithandwilsonlaw.com
Pat Keith, pkeith@keithandwilsonlaw.com
Scott Wilson, swilson@keithandwilsonlaw.com