Who bears the costs if my expenses are higher than their liability insurance?

Question

We were recently involved in an accident and the other party only had 15k of liability insurance. My wife suffered injuries in the accident and had to undergo surgery. The expenses are higher than 15k. Will my insurance cover the rest of the expense ? How does it work ? Please help!

William C. Gosnell · Answer

Hopefully you have uninsured and or underinsured insurance yourself under your policy. check on this and give them notice immediately or else you are out of luck.

Eric Chandler · Answer

You will need to discuss things with an attorney licensed in your state.  I am guessing you are not in Nebraska, as Nebraska has a minimum liability coverage limit of 25K.  There are multiple possibilities for what you might be able to do.  Your own auto insurance likely includes underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) to provide for exactly this type of situation; I would begin by contacting them and requesting a copy of your policy and declarations page.  You will also want to check and make sure there are no umbrella policies that may provide coverage.  An attorney can also help you negotiate reductions in medical bills and subrogation amounts owed to  health insurance companies.  It is always a good idea to first speak with a lawyer before attempting to tackle something like this on your own.  Good luck!

Gary Susak · Answer

Under Oregon law, the insurance company of the car you were driving or riding in when you were injured has PIP (Personal Injury Protection) coverage to pay at least $15,000.00 of the reasonable and necessary medical bills you incur within one year after the collision. They will also pay 70% of your lost wages up to a maximum of $1,250.00 per month if you are off work at least two weeks with a doctor's authorization. That coverage is for 52 weeks. Your PIP coverage may be greater than the above amounts.If you were in someone else's car and have auto insurance of your own, you should have coverage to pay more medical bills and lost wages if the insurance limits of the car in which you were driving or riding are exhausted.Other rules apply if you are a pedestrian or bicyclist and are struck by a motor vehicle. The insurance companies will collect the money they pay for your medical bills and lost wages from the insurance company of the party responsible for causing the accident.If you have health insurance coverage that will help cover the difference between the PIP payments and the balance of your wife's medical bills, but they will most likely want to be reimbursed for those expenses.With severe injuries like this, I suggest you see a personal injury attorney to help you manage the insurance claim as soon as possible.

Ryan Tomalas · Answer

This is a complicated question that involves issues of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and (hopefully) your own private health insurance. This unfortunately is a situation we deal with on a regular basis; however the explanation has too many contingencies to try to type a response. If you are interested in discussing this matter, please contact our office

Vahid Naziri · Answer

Your automobile insurance policy will provide coverage such damages under the medical payment provision and the underinsured provision, but only if said provisions were purchased as part of your plan. Please contact our offices for consultation.

Paul Whitfield · Answer

Depends on the type coverage and the amount of coverage.

Francis Paul Hajek · Answer

Generally speaking,if the expenses are more than the coverage, you have to see if your underinsured coverage will apply. If not, you are going to have to see if the defendant has any assets above and beyond the coverage. You should probably talk to a lawyer as it sounds like a serious injury and a lot of coverage questions. Most injury lawyers offer a free consult. Good Luck

Barry Rabovsky · Answer

I'd be happy to discuss your case with you.  It may be possible to file an underinsured claim to recover the excess expenses.

John A. Collins, III · Answer

The minimum liability insurance in CT is $20,000. If you were involved in a CT accident with an out-of-state driver with $15,000 in insurance that insurance will be automatically increased to $20,000. You may be able to submit your medical bills for payment to your health insurance carrier. IN addition, you may be able to make a claim under your own policy if you have medical payment coverage, and for un/underinsured motorist coverage.

Please feel free to respond further if I can be of assistance.

James Kelaher · Answer

I am not sure what state you are in. In Florida, your PIP will pay for $10k of the medical bills, and if you have medical payments coverage on your car, it should kick in, as well. Hopefully, the at-fault driver's insurance of $15k will be able to cover the rest, and if not, did you have underinsured motorist on your car? If so, after the at-fault's insurance is offered, you can go to your own UIM insurance. You probably will be better off having a lawyer try to handle all that for you. A reputable lawyer will not take a fee if you don't have enough insurance, and a good lawyer might find some coverage for you that you don't know about.

Mark Leonardo · Answer

Call your insurance carrier to see if you have med pay. That will cover a portion of the medical expenses depending on the coverage you may have. If not, you can sue the other driver for whatever your damages are. Your recovery is not limited to their policy limits. But if you agree to settle and take their $15,000, you may be precluded from seeking more, depending on how it gets paid to you and what agreement the insurance company makes with you. You would be wise to hire an attorney for this. But you also have to evaluate the viability of recovering from the other driver. Do they own a house? Do they have a job? You need to see that they have assets to go after, otherwise your paper judgment is not worth anything over the $15,000 from the insurance company.

Matt Willens · Answer

In Illinois, the minimum automobile liability insurance limits required by law is $20,000. Since you say that the at fault driver has $15,000 of liability insurance, I assume he was not from Illinois. Assuming the limits are not enough, you need to review the UNDERINSURED portion of your own insurance policy. We'd be glad to offer you a free consultation regarding ithis matter.

Robert J. Harris · Answer

Your wife is responsible for the costs of her care. But you need to have someone identify all possible sources of coverage. It looks to me like when you say the other side had only 15k of coverage, that's their PIP coverage. That is a limited type of coverage for medical care. Under Oregon law they have to have at least $25,000 of liability coverage. So I sounds like the other side may be denying liability.  You may also have underinsured coverage through your own policy, and of course health care coverage if you have that.  You can speak to one of our lawyers for free.

Lyle Masnikoff · Answer

Depends on type of accident and if there are other types of insurance. If it's motor vehicle accident then you look for uninsured motorist coverage.

If it is a property liability policy then you could go after person or company directly for amounts about coverage but only if here are assets to collect.

David Van Sant · Answer

I am not aware of any state that has limits as low as 15K. However, if 15K is all of the liability insurance available then you will need to look to your own insurance (it's known as UM coverage). In addition, if you have medpay benefits under your policy of insurance you can use that to satisfy the medical expenses as well. After all of the automobile insurance benefits are exhausted, you can certainly use your own health insurance to pay for any medical expenses. If you have any other questions, feel free to call me to discuss in more detail.

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