I resolved a motorcycle accident death case last week with a lovely family from Macon County. They lost a husband and a father due to the negligence of the driver who ran into the rider. As is often the case, the amount of the recovery is limited the amount of available insurance.
While the driver who caused the death had more insurance than the State Minimum of $25,000.00, the amount was considerably less than the loss of income from the rider’s death, not to mention the entirety of the loss to the family.
Insurance companies lobbied hard for mandatory insurance laws, but you don’t hear much from them regarding increasing the minimum insurance limits. It is my speculation that, while the companies enjoy the law requiring insurance, their bottom line is improved by only having limited exposure of $25,000.00 rather than a more reasonable amount of $100,000.00. When the minimum insurance coverage is unlikely to even cover three days of a hospital stay or six months of lost income, $25,000.00 is woefully insufficient.
Until the law changes, I encourage everyone to increase their uninsured motorist coverage. While an accident may not be your fault, if the driver is uninsured or underinsured it will be you and your family who lose income and assets from someone else’s negligence. We motorcycle riders are prime candidates to be injured in an accident that is someone else’s fault. Raise your insurance limits for uninsured motorist coverage to protect you and your family.
Our firm is great at collecting every dime available in an injury or wrongful death case. However, if the money isn’t there and insurance coverage is too low, our options are limited.