Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney Says Uninsured Motorist Coverage Essential
Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney Richard Griffin of The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. believs that every driver needs Uninsured Motorist Coverage now more than ever before. Attorney Richard Griffin was featured as the injury expert on the television show, Autoscoop, on April 10, 2009. During the show personal injury attorney Richard Griffin discussed the January 21, 2009 press release from the Insurance Research Council. In this press release a recent study showed that the bad economy has apparently caused a huge increase in the number of drivers who are driving without automobile insurance. Attorney Richard Griffin stated, “Georgia law requires that all drivers purchase at least $25,000 / $50,000 / $25,000 in liability coverage. However, Attorney Richard Griffin agrees that when the economy is bad people start trying to save money at every place they can. When they save money by dropping their auto insurance, drivers are gambling that they will not be pulled over and ticketed. Unfortunately, uninsured drivers are also gambling that they will not injury anyone in a car wreck as well.
When a driver causes serious personal injury or even a wrongful death, the negligent driver’s insurance company covers the claim up to the policy limits. Since the Georgia minimum is so low ($25,000/$50,000/$25,000), even when they carry the minimum limits they are uninsured for many, many personal injury claims. This means that they are personally liabile for the personal injury claims that they negligently cause. However, it is very expensive and often difficult to recover for personal injury claims against a negligent driver’s personal assets. This is because people usually have liens on most of their assets or people who do not have much will often bankrupt against a personal injury judgement.
The good news is that you can protect yourself by purchasing Uninsured Motorist coverage. You often can purchase Uninsured Motorist Coverage for only a slight increase in your premium so it is worth discussing with your insurance agent. Uninsured Motorist coverage can be used when the driver is uninsured. However, it also can be used when the liability policy for the negligent driver is less than the value of the personal injury claim. The personal injury and wrongful death lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. are highly skilled in locating and stacking policies to maximize what we can recover for our clients. There is also a new type of Uninsured Motorist available for auto insurance policies that are issued or renewed after 01/01/09. The new Uninsured Motorist coverage provided for in O.C.G.A. Section 33-7-11-(b)(1)(D)(ii) is called “Excess Uninsured Motorist Coverage”. This coverage operates the same if the negligent driver is uninsured. However, if the negligent driver is insured but is under insured for your claim, then your Uninsured Motorist Policy can be added to the liability policy. In traditional Uninsured Motorist Policies the coverage was called “Reduction UM Coverage” and would only provide additional insurance coverage for the amount of Uninsured Motorist Coverage you purchased above the liability policy. An example would be if the liability policy was $25000 and you had $25000 in uninsured motorist coverage, then you would not have any under-insured motorist coverage for the claim under traditional “Reduction UM Coverage” . However , under the same facts, you would have $50,000 of total coverage ($25,000 liability plus $25,000 UM) if you purchased the new “Excess UM Coverage”.
There is nothing sadder than explaining to my personal injury clients that your personal injury case is worth a lot more than there is in insurance coverage. This is easily prevented when you simply purchase as much Uninsured Motorist Coverage as you can afford to make sure there is insurance coverage avaible to adequately compensate you for your personal injury claim.
Every case is different, but the personal injury lawyers and wrongful death lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. work hard to maximize our client’s recoveries. This is done by handling the claim from beginning to end to make sure the client gets paid for all of their past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. During this process we also identify all the insurance policies which apply so that our clients are fully compensated for their personal injury and wrongful death claims.
If you or someone you love has been injured in a care wreck or hurt on the job, then you should call The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. at 866-847-6545 or visit our website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com to submit your legal quesiton or find out what your case is worth.
