New York Auto Accident Lawyer Warns Motorists Not To Be Penny Wise And Pound Foolish When It Comes To Uninsured And Underinsured Motorist Coverage
New York auto accident lawyer Michael S. Levine issued a well-founded warning today to all motorists in the State of New York to check their insurance policies to be express they have adequate uninsured and supplemental underinsured coverage in the incident of a serious injury caused by an uninsured, underinsured, or hit - and - run driver.
“One of the hardest things in my profession, ” Levine uttered, “is to have to communicate a client that the person who caused their accident either has no insurance, or only has the $25, 000 minimum liability coverage required by law in New York State.
“If the driver, ” Levine prolonged, “or the passengers, sustain catastrophic injuries as a arrangement of an accident with an underinsured vehicle, $25, 000 may not equivalent scratch the surface in terms of adequately compensating the victim for his, or her, pain and suffering. ”
A bill uncertain in the New York State Assembly ( SO4705 ) would require motor vehicle insurance providers to implement their insureds with uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage that is equal to the amount of the insured’s liability coverage. Hereafter, an insured may have adequate liability coverage, only to find out, after an accident with either an uninsured or underinsured motorist, that he or lady has inadequate uninsured or underinsured coverage to fairly recover the driver for his or her injuries.
“If this bill passes it will help lift the shroud of mystery surrounding this important issue, ” Levine vocal. “But more would still need to be done by the carriers themselves to help make every motorist in the state aware of the benefits of adequate uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.
Levine explained that insurance companies, which are required by law to stock their insured’s with at fundamental $25, 000 of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, make a deficient profit on these supplemental programs, so efficient is babyish, or no, business fancy to push the coverage on their policyholders.
“Any driver, ” Levine uttered, “who doesn’t have at rudimentary $100, 000 worth of uninsured / underinsured motorist coverage, if not more, is being penny wise and pound foolish. They need to know that these coverages are a deficient increased appraisal in any automobile policy. ”
A flourishing inspect by the Insurance Research Council estimates that 14 % of drivers nationwide, and 7 % of drivers in New York State, are uninsured.
As uniform, Levine warns that motorists should never land themselves, or their families, in a predilection where if serious injuries are gangling in a motor vehicle accident, all they can recover is $25, 000.
“Most drivers, ” he oral, “assume wrongly that every driver on the road is sufficiently undisclosed by automobile insurance. That is not prone airless to being the case. Unfortunately, most people pick up that they didn’t buy enough UM / Aggregate coverage when it’s too dilatory, after they’ve been seriously injured in an accident by a driver who is either uninsured, or has only minimum insurance. ”
To further decorate his point, Levine pointed to a case he determined recently involving a 16 - chronology - senile boy who was working ration extent at a Jiffy Lube on Long Island.
“My client was struck by a driver who was pulling his car into a bay to have it serviced, ” Levine uttered. “The boy tall very serious injuries to his leg and needed invasive surgery. The car that struck him only had a $25, 000 policy. My client’s parent’s car only had $25, 000 in Amount coverage. Stable after surgery, his leg injury could cause him problems for the rest of his life. But thanks to his parents didn’t have enough underinsured coverage, my client was only able to accept $25, 000 for his injuries, which is a completely inadequate outcome. I detect these regrettable situations repeat themselves tour and again. ”
