UNINSURED MOTORIST AND MED PAY IS ESSENTIAL!
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH LOW LIABILITY POLICY LIMITS? There is nothing sadder than explaining to a client with a catastrophic injury that the liability policy limits are all we can get and that the limits are only $25,000. My job as a personal injury attorney is to maximize my client’s recoveries. Unfortunately, Georgia only requires $25,000 / $50,000 as the minimum liability coverage required by law. This means that the most any one individual can recover against a minimum coverage liability policy is $25,000. The most the liability insurance company could have to pay for any one accident regardless of how many people are injured is $50,000. This should be changed by the Georgia politicians to at least $50,000 / $100,000. Obviously since many people live beyond their means and have large debt, they need to save money where they can. To save money many drivers elect to have the bare minimum of $25,000 / $50,000 in liability coverage.
HOW COULD THE MINIMUM COVERAGE AFFECT YOU? This means that if you suffered a fractured hip or other serious injury and had medical bills of over $50,000 from a surgery with hospital stay your recovery against the liability carrier may be limited to only $25,000. This does not even cover your medical bills in this scenario, and you would be faced with paying for the remaining medical bills even though you were not at fault in the car wreck. Recovering from the personal assets of negligent drivers is theorectically possible, but drivers who have minimum coverage almost never have assets to attach. Most people who drive with minimum coverage have minimum assets and usually have liens against their house and car such as mortgages and car loans.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF? There is a simple solution. Call your insurance agent and add $50,000 or more of Med Pay coverage and add $250,000 / $500,000 of (UM) Uninsured or Under-insured motorist coverage. This would mean that your medical bills would be paid and you would still have $250,000 or more of uninsured or under-insured motorist coverage. Under the hypothetical of a fractured hip from a car wreck, if you hired The Griffin Law Firm, P.C., you could recover the policy limits from the liability carrier. Your medical would be paid by your med pay coverage and not out of your settlement. And then we could pursue the remaining policy limits on your UM (uninsured motorist coverage). Under-insured motorist coverage would be based on how much UM coverage you purchased above and beyond the liability policy limits. UM and Med Pay coverages are relatively inexpensive, but they will make a world of difference if you have a catastrophic claim.
FREE SETTLEMENT EVALUATION: Call my firm today at 404-303-8400 or visit our website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com for a FREE CONSULTATION or just to find out what your case is worth.
