I keep seeing certainly things from so many clients. I realize people can only afford what they can in terms of the amount of insurance. Through the good work of the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association, the legislature has increased the minimum amount of insurance that a person must carry to $25,000 per person/$50,000 for everyone in the motor vehicle collision. That has increased from $15,000 per person/$30,000 for everyone in the motor vehicle collision. That took place at the very end of 2017. That also increased uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage to $25,000 per person/$50,000 for everyone in the vehicle.
However, under any policy of car insurance, you have what is called PIP/No-Fault insurance. That means your insurance company is responsible to pay your medical bills and/or lost wages up to two years from the date of the collision, up to the amount of coverage that you have. In Delaware, it is still $15,000 per person/$30,000 for everyone in the car.
For both liability in terms of getting money from the other person, and also for your own medical bills and lost wages, many times that is a sufficient amount of money. However, many times it is far from the amount people need for coverage. The same thing holds true as to what I stated above in terms of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage is when the person who struck you does not have insurance. That means you go through your own insurance company to try to get fair money for your injuries. Underinsured motorist coverage means the amount the person who struck you had in the way of insurance is not sufficient to pay the amount of damages you had as a result of being hurt. Therefore, underinsured motorist coverage can add to that amount you already received from the person that struck you.
Also, what people tend to do, and many times not know, is they get a deductible in their PIP/No-Fault insurance. In other words, they have $15,000.00 in coverage, but there is a $1,000.00 to $10,000.00 deductible. However much the deductible is on the policy, the insurance company is not responsible to pay that amount. If you do not have any back up health insurance, that can be an extreme problem. Also, if you have back up health insurance, health insurance has a right to get their money back in almost every case. If PIP pays for it, you have a right to go after the full amount of coverage the other driver had.
What I am trying to say, and have been saying is a person should ask their agent how much it costs for different levels of coverage, both for PIP and also uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. If you can afford the higher coverages, I strongly suggest you get it. If you got your insurance online, which many people do, the same thing should happen. You should find out what type of insurance is available, and how much you can afford.
I have just seen too many cases where the amount of injuries and medical bills far exceed the amount insurance available. That even includes uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, which a lot of people have, and some people do not. Too many people waive uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Also, in terms of PIP, you may end up being out of work for months. If you do no have short term disability from your employer, you may not get paid your wages.
Again, you can only afford what you can. However, I think most people would find to increase their amount of coverage is not that expensive, and many can afford it. Hopefully, you will never have a motor vehicle collision where you are injured. However, the one time do you and if you get hurt, you can find that you are just not going to get back to normal, and you are not going to get fair money for your injuries.
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