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 steady warning today to all motorists in the State of New York to check their insurance policies to be real they have adequate uninsured and supplemental underinsured coverage in the circumstance 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 divulge 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 sustained, “or the passengers, sustain catastrophic injuries as a corollary of an accident with an underinsured vehicle, $25, 000 may not like 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 proffer their insureds with uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage that is equal to the amount of the insured’s liability coverage. In future, an insured may have adequate liability coverage, only to find out, after an accident with either an uninsured or underinsured motorist, that he or schoolgirl has inadequate uninsured or underinsured coverage to fairly retrieve the driver for his or her injuries.
“If this bill passes it will help lift the shroud of riddle surrounding this important issue, ” Levine uttered. “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 support their insured’s with at elementary $25, 000 of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, make a little profit on these supplemental programs, so learned is babyish, or no, business goad to push the coverage on their policyholders.
“Any driver, ” Levine spoken, “who doesn’t have at anterior $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 scant amassed assessment in any automobile policy. ”
A raw subscribe to by the Insurance Research Council estimates that 14 % of drivers nationwide, and 7 % of drivers in New York State, are uninsured.
As relating, Levine warns that motorists should never settle themselves, or their families, in a air where if serious injuries are stretched in a motor vehicle accident, all they can recover is $25, 000.
“Most drivers, ” he vocal, “assume wrongly that every driver on the road is sufficiently mysterious by automobile insurance. That is not matching stuffy to being the case. Unfortunately, most people vision that they didn’t buy enough UM / Aggregate coverage when it’s too unpunctual, after they’ve been seriously injured in an accident by a driver who is either uninsured, or has only minimum insurance. ”
To further clarify his point, Levine pointed to a case he resolute recently involving a 16 - lifetime - senile boy who was working department hour 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 spoken. “The boy lofty 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 Quantity coverage. Precise after surgery, his leg injury could cause him problems for the rest of his life. But due to his parents didn’t have enough underinsured coverage, my client was only able to perceive $25, 000 for his injuries, which is a completely inadequate outcome. I make out these regrettable situations repeat themselves tour and again. ”
