If Insurance Companies Did What They Should, I Would Not Have A Job
I am an attorney, and I represent injury victims
. For over thirty years, I have talked with insurance company representatives about whether they would compensate my client for injuries, and about how much they'd pay. It astounds me how outrageous some insurance representatives can get in either denying claims, or in explaining why they should pay less. Imagine a criminal telling the judge what his punishment should be. Judge, I only stabbed the guy in the leg six times, I think I shouldn't go to jail, and that probation for six months will work. Insurance representative: you client, Mr. Samakow, only went to the doctor for six months and only had muscle injuries; his medical bills were way too high and we don't think it was necessary for him to be off of work at his construction job; so we're going to offer to pay half of his medical bills, none of his wages, and we'll give him seven hundred dollars for his inconveniences, pain, aggravations, disruption of his life, and his suffering.
I had an insurance claims adjuster once tell me that because my client was fat (yes, the adjuster said fat), she must have had pre-existing problems, and that the accident didn't cause much, if any of her current complaints of injury.
As infuriating as claims adjusters can be, the insurance industry has us by the collective well, they are the only place to go to provide protection for the harms others cause us. In the world of automobile accidents, we need protection in two major areas. First, if we cause an accident, we must have good "liability" coverage, that is, a high enough limit of coverage that our insurer is "on the hook" for if the person we injured is injured badly enough.
In Maryland, the law requires minimum limits for all drivers in the amount thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00), and in Virginia, the minimum required is twenty five thousand dollars ($25,000.00). In today's world of medical expense, these minimum limits are woefully inadequate and leave us in a position where we may well be personally responsible for claims in excess of those amounts. Simply put, if you contract with your insurer for minimum limits, that is all they have to pay, no matter what the other party's injury. I recommend obtaining a minimum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) in liability coverage, and encourage you to get quotes on coverages of five hundred thousand ($500,000.00) and even one million dollars ($1,000,000.00). You will be amazed at the small increase in premiums. For a few dollars more every six months, you can have good coverage that protects you in the event you cause an accident.
The second area of protection you need concerning auto insurance is called Uninsured Motorist Coverage. This is the coverage on your policy that protects you if someone else causes an accident, you or your family are injured, and the at fault party has no, or small limits. To protect against this possibility, I urge you to obtain good limits, as described above. Imagine you are rear-ended, strike your knee and then require knee surgery. With the surgeon's fee, hospital charges, anesthesia, and physical therapy after the surgery, bills could well exceed minimum auto insurance limits. If the at fault driver has these low limits, you're stuck for the difference, unless your Uninsured limits are more. Uninsured includes what is called "under-insured", so the protection in your policy covers situations where the at-fault guy either has no insurance, or not enough.
We have to deal with insurance companies, like it or not. How they treat us is not the issue in obtaining coverage. Without good coverage, there is no possibility that claims will be properly paid.
by: Paul Samakow
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