Missouri Insurance Information
Do you know what your insurance policy means? More importantly, do you know how the coverage you select on your own policy can affect you if there is a serious accident?
Below is a basic discussion of the types of personal insurance commonly involved when an accident occurs in Missouri.
1. LIABILITY COVERAGE
The Missouri Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (MVFRL for short) requires that anyone owning and operating a motor vehicle in Missouri maintain coverage on their vehicles in the minimum amount specified in the MVFRL. The amount required is 25/50 of liability coverage. These numbers mean that, in the event of an accident, the car at fault will have available $25,000 for each person injured up to a maximum of $50,000 to be shared among everyone hurt in the crash.
Given the high cost of medical bills, these amounts are very low. See http://www.focusonhospitals.com/Reports/ for typical charges associated with hospital stays in Missouri. In fact, it is often the case that accident victims are left with more hospital bills than can be covered by these MVFRL policies. This is especially so when more than one person is hurt.
In some cases, however, it may be possible for our lawyers to get more than this to cover injuries and bills, even when the car at fault only carries the minimum policy.
2. UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE
If you have insurance on your car, by law you have uninsured motorist coverage. We all pay for this as a part of our monthly premiums.
This coverage comes into play when the car at fault does not have its own policy as required by the MVFRL. In that case, your insurance company owes you up to the amount of uninsured motorist coverage listed for your own car.
For example, you are hit by a drunk driver without insurance while walking across the street. Even though your own car was not involved at all, the uninsured motorist coverage on your car kicks in to help pay for your injuries and bills. In fact, if you have more than one car with uninsured motorist coverage, the law allows those policies to be stacked (added together). Our attorneys can help guide you through the process of calculating and establishing the coverage available, and in making the claim with the insurance company.
When insurance is purchased, the MVFRL requires that uninsured motorist coverage be included in the policy. Unfortunately, we see that many people purchase policies with 100/300 coverage in case they are at fault, but only the minimum uninsured coverage of 25/50 for themselves. The cost of raising the uninsured coverage is very low and well worth the additional premium in case of a serious accident with an uninsured motorist.
3. UNDERINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE:
This coverage, like uninsured coverage, is very important to protect automobile owners in the event of a serious injury. However, the insurance companies seldom play fair with this kind of coverage.
Underinsured coverage applies in situations like the following. Assume that you are hit and badly hurt when your car rolls over. Your medical bills total $200,000, and you are permanently injured. The driver hitting you has MVFRL coverage of 25/50. This 25/50 policy will come nowhere near covering the cost to you and your family. The driver at fault is, by definition, underinsured. However, you have smartly purchased low cost underinsured coverage of 300/500 matching your liability coverage. In this scenario, your insurance recovery should be $325,000 with $25,000 coming from the driver at fault, and $300,000 coming from your own policy.
Sadly, insurance companies are seldom willing to pay the underinsured coverage you bought with your policy. Instead, they argue that the value of the injury is fully covered by the policy of the driver at fault. Or, the insurance company may argue that the value of the injury to you and your family is less than the full amount of coverage you purchased. In either situation, we can help make your case to the company and ensure that your claim receives fair value.
4. HOMEOWNERS
These policies cover homes for fire and flood loss. They also cover instances in which an injury is caused by the homeowner or his family member. Examples of this may include an injury to a child who was unsupervised while visiting the home or to a visiting neighbor who is hurt during a fall. In some instances, coverage may even extend to incidents happening away from the home like hunting accidents or injuries occurring during volunteer work.
Other types of insurance may apply in other circumstances. Whatever the circumstance, CBPW lawyers can help determine what coverage exists, what the value of the claim is, and what you are owed by the insurance company.
