by Guest » Tue Jan 22, 2008 02:06 am
I was involved in a head on that was the other drivers fault: I was driving north they were coming south. They lost control of their vehicle on slick roads and crossed the center line in front of me where hit them in the door. The other vehicles passenger was killed, myself and my passenger were seriously hurt.
My injuries include a broken scapula, a compression fracture on my L2 vertebrae, fractured elbow,sprained ankle, among other soft tissue tears and bruises.
The other drivers total coverage is $100,000 for the total accident. Their insurer admitted liability(as the case is pretty cut and dry, even in the newspaper press releases and TV news stories) and says there is no way their insurance was enough to cover all damages, physical as well as property. They are going to fax a declaration page over to my insurance, so that we can open the underinsured part of my policy.My uninsured/underinsured is $100,000 per person with a total of $300,000. Since this was such a serious accident will my insurance company just cut a check for the Limits to get this out of their hair? This has put my wife and I in a serious bind, as I am now laid up and we have no income for car payments, mortgage payments and such.
Thanks in advance.
M
My injuries include a broken scapula, a compression fracture on my L2 vertebrae, fractured elbow,sprained ankle, among other soft tissue tears and bruises.
The other drivers total coverage is $100,000 for the total accident. Their insurer admitted liability(as the case is pretty cut and dry, even in the newspaper press releases and TV news stories) and says there is no way their insurance was enough to cover all damages, physical as well as property. They are going to fax a declaration page over to my insurance, so that we can open the underinsured part of my policy.My uninsured/underinsured is $100,000 per person with a total of $300,000. Since this was such a serious accident will my insurance company just cut a check for the Limits to get this out of their hair? This has put my wife and I in a serious bind, as I am now laid up and we have no income for car payments, mortgage payments and such.
Thanks in advance.
M
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 02:33 am Post Subject:
Hey captmorgan23[at]yahoo.com,
Welcome to the forum, glad to hear that you are alive and kicking, well maybe not kicking. Sounds like you are in a real mess. You have come to a great place to get some answers. There are many experts here that work the field and I am sure that one or two of them will be along shortly to rip this apart and give you the advice that you are seeking.
Did you have wage loss on your insurance? I would hate to see you loose your house and car after suffering so much.
I wish you a speedy recovery and hope that you end this nightmare soon. Hang in there someone will be along shortly to help you figure this all out.
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 07:59 am Post Subject: the amount
My uninsured/underinsured is $100,000 per person with a total of $300,000.
So, that means you & your passenger together would be entitled to receive $(1,00,000 X 2)=$2,00,000 out of the Liability of the party at-fault.
Out of this you're supposed to be covered for $1,00,000 only (being the max limit of his liability coverage). So, there you'd still need to be covered for $(2,00,000 - 1,00,000)=$1,00,000 (a deficit which ought to be made up with your UM coverage).
What you need to do is to get all the papers associated with your treatment together before you go out on a visit with your UM adjuster. Wish you all the luck & hope you won't settle with anything less than you deserve :)
Do keep us informed,
RockyD'Souza
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 08:03 am Post Subject: Check out your policy!
Hi captmorgan23[at]yahoo.com,
My injuries include a broken scapula, a compression fracture on my L2 vertebrae, fractured elbow,sprained ankle, among other soft tissue tears and bruises.
I see no reason why should be able to retrieve the excess $1,00,000 beyond the liability limits of the at-fault party, incase your policy talks about UMPD only. Does it talk about UMBI to some extent? Am asking since it seems you've only exposed your physical damages!
Thanks,
CLara_coft
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 09:58 am Post Subject:
The other drivers total coverage is $100,000 for the total accident.
Please explain the statement further. Normally, the liability coverage of an auto policy has three components. Suppose, your policy states that the policy limit is 10/15/20, the first component refers the amount that would be paid out towards the bodily injuries caused to a single person; the second component signifies the amount paid out for the injuries caused to all the people involved in an accident and the last part is the limit for the property damages caused by the at-fault driver.
Out of this you're supposed to be covered for $1,00,000 only (being the max limit of his liability coverage). So, there you'd still need to be covered for $(2,00,000 - 1,00,000)=$1,00,000 (a deficit which ought to be made up with your UM coverage).
...............only if your state is an add-on state. Only under the add-on clause you can recover the excess amount from your UM coverage. Suppose, the other driver has caused you $40,000 worth of bodily injuries and his liability limit is of $10,000, whereas your initial limit of UM coverage is $35,000. The add-on state allows you to add on this $10,000 to your UM policy. Therefore, you will now receive the $10,000 from the at-fault party's carrier and $30,000 from the UM coverage. This way your entire cost is getting covered without you paying a dime. Hope this explains well……:D. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.
Praying for your fast recovery :D
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 01:09 pm Post Subject:
Welcome captmorgan23[at]yahoo.com, and glad you survived this horrible accident...
Ok people we are confusing some things here...first of all it would be UIM (UNDER Insured motorist) from the OP's policy NOT UM (UNINSURED motorist) coverage that will come into play here...UM coverage will have no baring whatsoever on this claim only UIM...
roddick, this confused me too at one time, but a poster here (jake) I cannot remember his state, but they too offer these ''total'' limits...I'd never heard of it either, but apparently the OP's state has this as well...
Capt. what state are you in by the way?
re:
will my insurance company just cut a check for the Limits to get this out of their hair?
They just may...and I wouldn't be surprised, it would be 100k to you and 100k to your passenger unless your state has some thing different re: the PD portion of your UIM kicking in...Do/did you have more than one vehicle? Some (many) states allow 'stacking' of UIM (and UM) if this is the case and you have (lets say for example) three vehicles with 100/300 UIM, this would mean (if your state allows stacking) your limits have increased now to 300/900..see?
Let us know your state and I'll do some checking for you.
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 01:33 pm Post Subject:
Commercial policies have a combined single limit. While I've never seen one less then 1 mill, they could be $100,000. This would be for BI and PD together.
OP, the other carrier will let you know that they _can_ offer the $100k policy limits. They will then need to obtain a letter from _your_ carrier stating that your carrier won't attempt any recovery from their insured if they pay the $100k. Your carrier will preform a background check of the other driver and then send out the letter. Only at this time will the other carrier ask you for a release to be signed and then send the $100k.
I mention this as you can "help" this process along by staying on both carriers to get this done. A background check takes just 3 days, tops. Keep in mind that the other carriers payment will need to be used to address all outstanding medical bills. See if the carrier can pay you directly so that you can satisfy the medical bills. If they can't (if they have liens from the medical providers), before accepting the settlement, obtain all your outstanding medical bills, contact those providers and negotiate their bills. Tell them you need to see about having them reduced as you cannot pay the bills. If they ask you about insurance money, just be vague. In some cases, providers will cut their bills by 30%-50%. This means your money will go further.
Your carrier will then need to address your loss. If it's worth more then $100k, they will address the remaining amount, up to your policy limits. For each person in this accident, that is an additional $100k under your policy. If your carrier feels your loss is $100k or less, they would not offer anything (won't happen). If your carrier determines your injury loss is $150k, they will offer the additional $50k, etc. They only way they would offer you their $100k is if they felt your injury loss was worth $200k or more (very well could be).
Word of advise, an attorney might not be in your financial best interest. If your carrier offers you $100k or even close to that, that would be all the money possibly payable. If you had an attorney, he/she would then take 33% of your settlement... a settlement you would have been offered any way. If your carriers offer appears to be low, you may want to consider hiring an attorney.... but make sure the attorney will _not_ take 33% of the _other carriers_ $100k payment!
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