The author's perspective on buying auto insurance will help you buy the right kind of auto insurance because he knows what coverages are used when people have an auto accident. The insurance agent just wants your money. Unfortunately, you can not change your insurance coverage after the accident occurs.
Most people decide what type of auto insurance to buy based upon the advice of the insurance agent. However, if the purpose of buying auto insurance is to protect yourself from financial devastation due to serious personal injury, then the advice of the Kentucky Auto Accident Attorney, a personal injury attorney since 1986, may be of interest to you. As an auto accident attorney for over 20 years, I have represented 100s of people injured and/or killed in auto accidents and I know what auto insurance coverages are important to them and their families.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage:
This coverage provides coverage for injuries caused by someone who does not have any insurance on their vehicle at the time of the accident. There are lots of people driving around without insurance on their vehicles and it should not surprise you that they cause a disproportionate number of auto accidents. Irresponsibility breeds irresponsibility.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage:
This insurance provides coverage for injuries caused by someone who has insurance but does not have enough to satisfy your claim. This coverage is one of the most used coverages by an auto accident lawyer on behalf of car accident victims and it is one you need in as large an amount as you can afford. The minimum liability coverage required in Kentucky is $25,000.00 and the majority of drivers carry the minimum. $25,000.00 is not enough money to pay even the smallest claims for personal injury. Underinsured Motorist Coverage (called “UIM”) allows me as your personal injury lawyer to make a claim against your own insurance company when the person causing the accident does not have enough insurance to satisfy your claim.
The good news about Underinsured Motorist Coverage is that it is relatively cheap. Insurance companies are forced by law to offer it. You need, at the very least, to have as much UIM as you have liability coverage. I find that many insurance agents fail to educate their client’s about this coverage and its affordability.
Added PIP/No-Fault Coverage
Kentucky law requires you to purchase $10,000.00 in Personal Injury Protection Benefits (also called basic reparation benefits and kentucky no-fault benefits). This coverage pays for medical expenses, lost wages and some other replacement costs. Although Kentucky requires you to buy $10,000.00 of this coverage, some agents forget to tell you that you have the option of buying more. You may want to consider buying more no-fault in increments of $10,000.00 because you may need the wage loss coverage and $10,000.00 can evaporate quickly. As an accident lawyer for many over the past several years, I have many clients who exhaust their $10,000.00 quickly with medical expenses and then struggle to pay bills because they do not have any wage replacement coverage. Additional no-fault coverage is particularly important recently because health insurance companies are paying less and less, which means you will be paying more of your medical bills out of your own pocket if you do not have added no-fault.
Excess Coverage
If you paid $800.00 for $500,000.00 in liability coverage on your two vehicles and I told you that you could increase that coverage to $1 Million for $150.00, would you do it? This coverage is called an excess policy. You can greatly increase your coverage for a relatively small premium. Further good news is that many excess policies include Underinsured Motorist and Uninsured Motorist coverages. You need to ask your agent to make sure these coverages are included.
Should we look for more ways to spend money on car insurance? Absolutely not! However, there are certain coverages that are worth our attention and I would suggest that you at least price them so that you can determine if you can afford them. Thousands of people are killed and seriously injured in auto accidents every year in the state of Kentucky. It would be irresponsible of anyone to think that they are exempt from a serious auto accident some time in their life. So, as a personal injury attorney, I am encouraging you to purchasing the right insurance coverages. For further information do not hesitate to contact the Kentucky Auto Accident Attorney.
