Austin Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Austin Personal Injury Attorney: Recommended Car Insurance

  

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A significant number of our Austin Personal Injury attorney  clients are car accident victims.  Those who have the right insurance coverage, have significantly less problems than those who have poor insurance. As the cost of insurance is a significant consideration in buying insurance, you need to know the types of coverage that are available and their relative merits.  Bemis, Roach and Reed recommends that our clients obtain the following auto insurance coverage:

1. Liability Coverage - This coverage is required in Texas.  It pays for damages caused to others as a result of your negligence in causing an accident.  The primary determination as to the amount of liability coverage you should obtain is how much protection you want in case you are negligent and injure one or more other persons or their property.  The coverage is usually divided up between bodily injury coverage to pay persons who are hurt as a result of your negligence and property damage coverage to pay for any damages to others property resulting from your negligence.  A victim’s Medical expenses and lost wages can easily exceed the minimum coverage available in even a modest accident.  In addition, cars have become very expensive and there are few cars that are worth less than the minimum coverage.   If you don’t have enough liability coverage and you injury someone, then you can be personally responsible for those damages in excess of your liability limits.  Also, what is often overlooked in determining the amount of this coverage is that in all likelihood you will not be able to obtain underinsured motorist coverage for an amount that exceeds your liability coverage.
2. Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage - This is where many of our clients have made the biggest mistake in buying insurance.   You should maximize this coverage as it is what protects you and your family from damages that exceed the limits of the other driver.  Although liability insurance is legally required, many ignore the law and don’t get any insurance and have no ability to pay your damages.  In addition, the vast majority of people have low insurance limits.  If you or others in your car are significantly injured as a result of the negligence of someone with low insurance limits, it is likely that you will not be able to recover your damages without underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage.   Even if you have health insurance, it won’t  pay all your expenses and will not cover any of your lost wages or compensate you for what could be a lifetime of pain caused by the negligence of an uninsured or under insured driver.  
3. Personal Injury Protection Insurance- This is the second most overlooked, but vital insurance coverage.  It is often referred to as PIP.  It is so important that the state mandates it unless you sign a waiver refusing the coverage.  It covers your and your passengers’ medical expenses and 80% of your or your passengers lost wages which result from a car accident regardless of who was at fault.  Many think that because they have health insurance they don’t need PIP.  They are mistaken.  Many healthcare costs may not be paid by health insurance and if you are off work for just three weeks following an accident, how are you going to pay your bills?  Some insurance companies like to offer med pay coverage instead of PIP.  We do not recommend med pay over PIP.  Med pay coverage does not reimburse you for your lost wages and your insurance company will want to be paid back the money they paid in med pay if you make a recovery from the negligent driver.   Also what most people don’t realize that if the other person is at fault, their insurance company will rarely reimburse you for your medical expenses as you treat.  They will only want to negotiate with you for a full release of your claim.  If you require treatment over any period of time and don’t have PIP then you may find yourself unable to pay your medical bills, have no income through no fault of your own and get no assistance from the insurance company of the at fault driver.
4. GAP Insurance- If you purchased a new car and it is destroyed within the first year of your ownership, you may find yourself owing more on the car that what it is worth.  In Texas the negligent driver only owes you the fair market value of a totaled vehicle.   If you owe more than the car is worth, the company who financed the car would get the fair market value money from negligent driver’s insurance company and you would be left owing the financing company the difference with no recourse against the negligent driver who paid all he was legally obligated to pay.   Those who owe much more than the fair market value of their vehicle should consider GAP insurance which would cover this deficiency.

Collision Coverage- This covers the damage to your car regardless as to whether an accident was your fault or others.