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 stable warning today to all motorists in the State of New York to check their insurance policies to be factual they have adequate uninsured and supplemental underinsured coverage in the occasion 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 impart 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 gangling, “or the passengers, sustain catastrophic injuries as a proceeds of an accident with an underinsured vehicle, $25, 000 may not regular scratch the surface in terms of adequately compensating the victim for his, or her, pain and suffering. ”
A bill unresolved in the New York State Assembly ( SO4705 ) would require motor vehicle insurance providers to contribute their insureds with uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage that is equal to the amount of the insured’s liability coverage. In consummation, an insured may have adequate liability coverage, only to find out, after an accident with either an uninsured or underinsured motorist, that he or cutie has inadequate uninsured or underinsured coverage to fairly indemnify the driver for his or her injuries.
“If this bill passes it will help lift the shroud of secret surrounding this important issue, ” Levine oral. “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 fix up their insured’s with at rudimentary $25, 000 of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, make a insufficient profit on these supplemental programs, so acknowledged is toy, or no, business itch to push the coverage on their policyholders.
“Any driver, ” Levine uttered, “who doesn’t have at lead off $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 little spare appraisal in any automobile policy. ”
A undecayed excogitate by the Insurance Research Council estimates that 14 % of drivers nationwide, and 7 % of drivers in New York State, are uninsured.
As equaling, Levine warns that motorists should never form themselves, or their families, in a routine where if serious injuries are lingering 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 esoteric by automobile insurance. That is not constant suffocating to being the case. Unfortunately, most people discern that they didn’t buy enough UM / Quantity coverage when it’s too delayed, 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 strong-minded recently involving a 16 - space - elderly boy who was working extra 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 longish 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 Sum coverage. Smooth after surgery, his leg injury could cause him problems for the rest of his life. But owing to his parents didn’t have enough underinsured coverage, my client was only able to take possession $25, 000 for his injuries, which is a completely inadequate outcome. I descry these regrettable situations repeat themselves interval and again. ”
