Handling personal injury cases, I am constantly reviewing my clients’ car insurance policies. Most of the time, I review these policies after the accident occurred. The problem is that if there is an issue with their insurance, it’s too late to do anything about it.
Pennsylvania has minimum car insurance requirements. These minimum lability insurance policies hardly insure anything. ”Liability Insurance” means that if you are at fault for the accident, the insurance policy will cover the amount on your policy. For instance, Pennsylvania requires that a motor vehicle be insured in the amount of $15,000 for injury or death of one person in an accident. So, if you have a liability policy in the amount of $15,000, and you cause an accident that results in someone’s death, your car insurance will only cover $15,000. I have handled these types of cases and it should be no surprise that $15,000 comes nowhere close to compensating the families who lost a loved one. You could be on the hook for millions of dollars!
Pennsylvania does NOT require uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist coverage. If you are able, you want to make sure that you have these. For example, If you are seriously injured and the driver of the at fault car only had liability insurance in the amount of $15,000, the underinsured motorist coverage would cover that amount in excess of the $15,000. Your own insurance policy would cover someone else’s liability for your injuries. If you had a $100,000 underinsured motorist policy, then you could receive the $15,000 AND the $100,000. These policies are ESSENTIAL (and many states REQUIRE them).
If you live in Southwestern Pennsylvania and have questions about what your car insurance does or does not cover, I’d be happy to review your policy with you. As a personal injury attorney, part of my job is making sure that my clients understand what could happen in a car accident.
You can call me at 724-832-2499, text me at 724-858-2744, or schedule an appointment at our Greensburg office, Latrobe office, or Johnstown office.
Marco F. Sylvania, Esquire