Transcript:

Let’s talk about auto insurance. I know that’s a really dry topic for most people, but I actually love it.

I spend a lot of my days sometimes looking through policies, reading the fine print, trying to find additional policy coverage to get my clients more money.

So let’s go through the basic structure of your auto insurance policy, and why there’s probably coverage there that you didn’t know you had.

So, the first place that we look when you’ve been injured in a wreck is, of course, to the defendant’s insurance policy. The person who caused the wreck, how much do they have to cover your injuries and your damages.

But, what happens if they don’t have enough? Let’s look at your policy.

Your insurance policy has a certain amount of coverage. Let’s say, just for this example, fifty-thousand dollars, right? Many times it might be written as “$50,000/100/25.” When you look at your policy’s declaration page, that’s what you get from the insurance company when you have renewals and stuff, you’ll see those three numbers “50, 100, 25.” That means you have $50,000 of liability coverage, if someone sues you because you caused a wreck, you’ve got $50,000 to protect you.

$100,000 would be the most the insurance company would pay out in any single wreck. In case a bunch of people go hurt.

And 25, that number on the right side, that’s the amount for property damage. So look at your policy, see what it says.

If you have a question, call me, email me, text me, at 757-all sevens, and I’ll answer your insurance question.

But let’s move forward, what happens in that situation when the defendant who caused your injuries does not have enough money to pay you for your damages?

This is where part of the policy you many not know you have comes in to play. You may have something in your policy called “uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage,” and it’s well named.

It comes into effect if the defendant is uninsured, has no coverage, or underinsured, meaning doesn’t have enough for the damages they caused you.

That’s a part of the policy that you’ve been paying premiums for every single time you pay your auto insurance policy. Most people don’t know they have it, many lawyers don’t understand how it works, but it’s incredibly important. Because when you or your family members get injured, and there’s not enough money, you’ve got to find it somewhere. Because you’ve got medical bills, you’ve got pain and suffering, you’ve got lost wages, so we dig deeply to find all of this coverage.

By Virginia law, your insurance policy has to equal the uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, so by law in Virginia, unless there’s a special exclusion which doesn’t horribly every apply, if you’ve got $50,000 of coverage protecting you incase you get sued, you also have $50,00 of coverage if someone else hurts you and doesn’t have enough to pay for your damages.

And that’s really important, it’s insurance that you’ve been paying for and you should use it if you need it.

Most people say, “Wait a minute, why do I have to use my own insurance? It was the defendant’s fault.” I agree, and I get that, but the law understands that sometimes the defendant doesn’t have enough.

The next question we’re going to say is, “What’s going to happen to my insurance? Am I going to get canceled? Are my costs going to go up?” I will tell you, after decades of doing this and handling thousands of auto claims with auto insurance. I did not have a single example to show up where someone has had their insurance rates increased or their policy canceled because they accessed their uninsured or underinsured motorist part of the coverage.

And that’s fair, because the only reason you’re doing that was not because it was your fault, it’s just because you need the help of the insurance company because the person’s fault it is injured you badly.

And really insurance companies are worried about fault, and if you’re not at fault, why should they cancel your policy or increase it?

So, since you’ve been paying for this, use it, and there’s another place where you might be able to get additional coverage for your injuries.

If the defendant’s policy is not enough and your own policy is not enough, that’s called, “Resident Relative Insurance.” Resident relative is a legal term, and it means relative who reside with you, people you’re related to that live under the same roof.

Your mom, your dad, your spouse, your kids, they also have auto insurance where their policy equals their uninsured and underinsured. Same thing that you have here, and they’ve been paying for it also.

But not only does that coverage protect the policy holder, as we described how it protects you, but it also protects other people to whom you’re related. So, if you get injured badly and the defendant doesn’t have enough, and your policy doesn’t have enough, those relative policy can be added on top of yours, what we call, “stacked on top,” and all of that coverage can help with your medical bills, your lost wages, and your pain and suffering.

Sometimes people say, “Well, my mom may not want to give me her policy, or my sister may not, or why should I take my children’s policy?” This is coverage you’ve been paying for and they’ve been paying for every single time they pay their premium, maybe for moths, for years, or decades, so why not use it?

Againl I don’t have a single example of where it affects your own policy, permiums, or cancellation, so use it. Not using it, when you’ve been paying for it for all these years, is like saying to somebody, “I know I’ve been paying for life insurance all these years, but if I die, don’t cash in that policy.” It simply doesn’t make sense.

Or lets say you’ve got healthcare and your healthcare also covers your child. If the child needs healthcare would you say, “Wait a minute, why use my healthcare?” Well, you’ve been paying premiums for it.

So, long story short, you’ve got parts of your policy that may provide money for your injuries, your lost wages, and your pain and suffering that you don’t know about. As I mentioned at the very beginning, I read policies all day long. I love fine print, I love a hundred page policy, I know how the insurance companies try to bury these things deep into a policy so nobody can find them. Right?

If there was a forensic CSI auto insurance, I’d be the guy. I love finding these things, give me chance. Call me let’s talk about it, and when you are badly injured and you’re worried about whether it’s going to be enough money, hire Rutter Mills, we’ll find the money.

Thanks.