Uninsured & Underinsured Driver Injury Claims, Stacking of Insurance policies to maximize benefits, and finding sources of coverage.
Uninsured Driver Injury Claims. What to do when you are injured by an uninsured or underinsured driver in Kentucky. Stacking of insurance policies for greater coverage.
Insurance companies must offer you Uninsured and Underinsured Coverage protection in your policy in Kentucky.
Never Reject UM/UIM Coverage!
You should never reject this type of coverage and you should check the declarations page of your policy every year to make sure it is there. In Kentucky the required minimum liability coverage is $25,000.00/$50,000. This may hardly be enough to cover your medical bills, and your damages. If this were to happen, your underinsured coverage will cover you. This additional coverage will cover your injuries in the event you get injured by an uninsured or underinsured driver. What does this mean?
UNINSURED DRIVER: You were hit and the person at fault has no insurance. Your policy should protect you.
UNDERINSURED DRIVER: You were injured by someone who has insurance but the tortfeasor’s policy limits are not enough to cover all of your medical bills, your lost wages, and your pain and suffering.
In the above two scenarios your insurance policy will the primary source of coverage, and you will find that you will still need a lawyer in many cases, because your own insurance might resist paying you the amount of money you believe you are entitled to receive and or make you a low ball offer. After settling with you, your own insurance company will then reserve its’ rights to sue the person at fault to recover what they paid you in your injury settlement.
Stacking of insurance policies; Finding Sources of Coverage if you don’t have UIM/UM.
It is important to speak with a lawyer right away in order for you to determine what if any policy in your household applies to your injury. If you have more than one vehicle in your household, even if it’s not in your name, you maybe able to stack policies to increase your recovery.
Likewise, if you were in a vehicle that didn’t have UIM coverage, but someone in your household does have it on another vehicle and if you are not excluded, then such possibilities of coverage should be explored.
If you are injured as a passenger by a vehicle that is underinsured or uninsured.
In one important 2016 decision Countryway Ins. Co. v. United Fin. Cas. Ins. Co, the Kentucky Supreme Court addressed the question of whether insurance policy covering a vehicle or the policy of a passenger provided coverage to the passenger. It concluded that where both vehicle owner and non-owner passenger are separately insured with UIM coverage, the vehicle owner’s coverage is primary.
In Kentucky, underinsured motorist coverage is personal insurance, following the insured regardless of whether he or she is injured as a motorist, a passenger, or a pedestrian, and was only limited by the actual, valid exclusions of policy.
Anna Aleksander is a personal injury lawyer in Louisville Kentucky. She handles auto accident cases and can help you with your claim.When you’ve been hurt in a an accident by an uninsured or underinsured driver what are your legal options?
Call Anna Aleksander Attorney at Aleksander Law Office, PLLC to discuss your case. The consultation is free. (502)589-0816
Copyright Anna Aleksander, Attorney at Aleksander Law Office, PLLC 2022.