For most married people, the person that they drive with most often is their spouse. Therefore, the odds of being injured by your spouse in a motor vehicle accident are significant. Even the best drivers have momentary lapses while driving. Should you suffer a serious injury in such a scenario, your options for recovering necessary compensation for your financial damages may be limited. This may be an extreme hardship to your family should you be permanently injured and unable to return to work due to an accident caused by your spouse.
There are ways to protect yourself and your spouse in such situations. Insurance companies offer Spousal Liability coverage. This will allow a passenger in a vehicle that is injured due to their spouse’s negligence, to make a claim against their own insurance policy. The insurance companies offer these coverage’s at extremely reasonable rates. For less then a few hundred dollars a year you can protect yourself and your spouse from the financial devastation of a serious accidental injury.
While the idea of making a claim against your spouse seems distasteful, your alternatives may be much harsher. Further, your insurance company is happy to provide the coverage for just such an occasion. I highly recommend this coverage to all my clients. I have seen far too many people suffer serious accidental injuries in a car accident caused by a spouse, left with no financial compensation.
Should you have any questions with respect to your automobile insurance coverages, please feel free to contact me at my office and I’d be happy to review them for you at no charge.
As a personal injury attorney, I often meet people that have suffered serious injuries as a result of a car accident. Unfortunately, sometimes I have to explain to them that the person responsible for their injuries either has no insurance, or inadequate insurance, to fairly compensate them.
In New York State the statutory minimum amount of liability insurance a person is required to carry for a motor vehicle accident is $25,000 per injured person and $50,000 for an entire occurrence. This means that no matter how severe a person’s injuries are, they will only be able to receive $25,000 from the insurance carrier if injured by a person with such an automobile policy. This can be devastating should the person be so severely injured that they have large medical bills and/or are unable to return to work and the negligent party is either insolvent or has little money.
With proper planning there are ways to protect oneself from such a situation. When purchasing insurance coverage for an automobile policy, most people are concerned with only one factor, cost. However, there are relatively inexpensive coverage’s offered by an insurance company that can protect you from an uninsured or underinsured driver.
Every insurance company is required to offer Uninsured Motorist Coverage and Supplemental Under Insured Motorist Coverage (UM/UIM). This coverage will commence if a person is injured by another party that has either no insurance or a minimum policy. In essence, the injured parties insurance company will act as the defendant and pay for the damages suffered by their own insured. Further, this is done in an expedited arbitration proceeding, as opposed to a drawn out legal battle.
The minimum amount of Uninsured/Supplemental Under Insured coverage required in New York is also $25,000 per injured person and $50,000 per occurrence. That means everyone that purchases automobile insurance in New York State has at least that amount of coverage included in the automobile insurance policy.
For just a few dollars more per month a person can elevate these amounts significantly. Insurance companies differ on the maximum amount of Uninsured/Supplemental Under Insured Insurance that they will offer. But most insurance companies offer at least $500,000. This means that should a person be injured by another party with no insurance or inadequate insurance, they can recover their damages from their own policy up to $500,000. This type of policy will also protect family members and other people in your vehicle.
I highly recommend this type of coverage to all my clients. Hopefully, they will never need it. But should they suffer an injury from an uninsured or underinsured driver, they will at least have the piece of mind of knowing they are financially protected.
One of the most important decisions that you will be faced with following an accidental injury will be choosing the right attorney to represent you.
Many attorneys claim they handle personal injury cases. However, not all of them are qualified to do so. Some inexperienced attorneys can view personal injury cases as “easy money.” They do very little work and expect that they can settle the case and make a quick buck. The problem for the client in this scenario is that they likely received far less money then they should have because no one put in the work required to get them their fare compensation.
Only an experienced, aggressive personal injury attorney familiar with the nuances of the field will be able to maximize an injury settlement. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to maximize a recovery. An experienced, aggressive attorney will investigate all of the facts of a case, gather all information such as witness statements, photographs and medical records, review those records, litigate the case in court, hire experts, negotiate a settlement, and if necessary, go to trial. This type of approach will obviously yield far better results for a client then the attorney that is sitting around hoping for a call from an insurance adjuster offering a quick settlement.
So how can you ensure that you hire the type of attorney that is going to maximize your recovery? There are five simple steps to follow when searching for a personal injury lawyer.
First, be aware of the “ambulance chaser.” If you receive an unsolicited call or letter from a lawyer following an accident, be careful. This unsavory practice is frowned upon in the legal feild and may also be considered unethical. You would most certainly want to avoid a lawyer that engages in this type of practice.
Second, start your search by looking for an attorney with a proven track record of success in the field of personal injury. Look at their prior trial results and settlements. There is no substitute for successful experience. If your potential attorney can’t show you some of their successful case results, you may want to find another lawyer.
Third, the attorney should not be a jack-of-all-trades. The attorney should concentrate their practice in the area of personal injury. If your attorney is doing real estate, criminal law, family law or any other type of law, in conjunction with personal injury, they probably are not particularly well versed in personal injury law. Personal injury law is a complex and constantly changing field and an injured party would do well to find a lawyer who concentrates in only that area. Make sure you ask what types of cases the attorney handles.
Fourth, make sure your attorney has the resources to pursue your case. They will need both man power and money to maximize your recovery. There is a great deal of paperwork involved in personal injury law, as well as many financial expenses. A talented support staff and large monetary reserve are necessary to carry a case to fruition. Therefore, be inquisitive. Look around and ask questions. Where is the attorney’s office? Is it large, comfortable and furnished appropriately? Does the attorney have a staff? Does the office appear alive and bustling? Does the energy in the office feel positive? If you do not get a feeling of comfort from what you are seeing and hearing, beware.
Fifth, make sure the attorney is upfront with respect to his fees and expenses associated with the case. The attorney should have a thorough retainer agreement for you to review that lists their financial compensation and expenses. If the attorney does not have a full and thorough retainer or refuses to provide you a copy, you should be careful.
Moreover, don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions. If you don’t like what you are hearing, keep searching for the right attorney. He or she is out there.