Uninsured Motorist Claims In Philadelphia
In your lifetime, the chances are good that you will be struck by another motorist who either has no insurance or limited insurance to cover your losses. While it is important to protect your assets (which is why you are contracted with proper car insurance), protecting yourself and those in your car while behind the wheel is still crucial.
Car Collisions are frequent and expensive. Not only are the medical procedures costly, but the injuries sustained in a severe auto collision are long-lasting and can affect you for the rest of your life. Lost wages from time off of work and even the loss of your job due to this incident both take a heavy blow to even the most well-insured victims.
You might think, “Well, I didn’t cause the accident, so I will not be held financially accountable, and the costs will fall on the shoulders of the negligent driver, right?” Yes, that would be true in a perfect world, but millions of Americans irresponsibly drive without car insurance. So, in this case, the liability will fall on the victim, not the negligent driver.
Under Pennsylvania Law, to drive your car legally, you are required to carry the minimum coverage available under the law. This generally means that you afford others (Bodily Injury Coverage) with $15,000.00 of insurance so that if you cause an accident, you are availing the party that you injured $15,000.00 for your negligence.
Years ago, when Pennsylvania mandated that if you afford the same $15,000 in underinsured and uninsured coverage. However, Pennsylvania law has changed, and now, for a cheaper premium, you can reject these coverages entirely. However, it would be a mistake to do so. Here’s why:
Suppose instead of causing an accident; you are the victim of an accident. Let’s also assume you are sitting in your car at a red light, and a car comes from behind and crashes into your car at high speed. You have devastating injuries, and the driver of the car that hit you was texting when he or she struck you. Your injuries are so severe that you lose countless months of work and will experience pain and suffering for the foreseeable future.
What if the vehicle’s driver did not have insurance (for whatever reason)? If you declined underinsured motorist coverage, you would be completely out of luck in this circumstance, unable to recover anything for your devastating injuries. If the person that struck you had limited or low coverage, you might be in a similarly bad position.
In Pennsylvania, the minimum legal coverage is $15,000.00. If you have lifelong permanent injuries, this would hardly be sufficient to cover your lifelong damages. Unfortunately, if you reject your underinsured coverage, this $15,000.00 is all that you will get.
Protection for yourself and your loved ones should be the most important concern when purchasing car insurance. In Pennsylvania, you can only afford what you afford others with car insurance benefits. So if you have a $50,000.00 policy if you cause an accident, you can contract for up to the same coverage in Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage. You cannot afford others less than what you afford.
At The Law Offices of Greg Prosmushkin, P.C., our experienced car accident lawyers in Philadelphia deal with these issues daily. Our consultations are free, and we encourage you to call or Contact Us online with questions.