Category: Personal Injuries
Underinsured/Uninsured Coverage – What Is It and Why Should You Give It Some Thought?
January 12, 2011 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.Most people do not understand it and fail to appreciate its importance to them and their family. Underinsured motorist’s coverage insures you and your resident family members if you or they are injured in a motor vehicle collision and the other driver does not have sufficient liability coverage to adequately compensate you for your injuries – medical bills, wage loss, physical disability, and pain and suffering. Uninsured coverage protects you and your resident family members from situations where you are injured by another driver who does not have any liability coverage on his or her automobile. Unfortunately, in this day and age a surprising number of people do not carry any insurance or only carry the statutory minimum. Under Minnesota law, that statutory minimum is $30,000.00 for liability coverage and $25,000.00 for underinsured and uninsured coverage. It doesn’t take much for an injury to create damages that far exceed these minimal coverages. You should look at your policy to see what type of coverage you currently have to determine if you believe the coverage you are carrying is adequate. If you are not sure what amount of coverage you should carry, you can always consult with your insurance agent and/or also talk to your attorney. Obviously, any decision on the amount of coverage…
Read MoreCar Accidents and Unintended Consequences
January 4, 2011 | Jon P. EricksonSome times when a person is involved in a motor vehicle accident they end up getting a traffic ticket such as a careless driving ticket. This can happen even if a police officer didn’t witness the accident. They might give you a ticket there at the scene of the accident, or send you one in the mail. A careless driving ticket or other misdemeanor moving traffic violation is a crime with a statutory maximum of 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. The potential biggest problem from a conviction for such an offense is probably the collateral consequence of its effect on your motor vehicle insurance rates. It may make sense financially to hire a lawyer to fight this charge to try and prevent such a conviction. There may also be problems should you be sued civilly by the driver(s) of the other motor vehicles involved. We at BGS recommend you talk to our lawyers about this to help you make a decision on what to do. There are even potential felony charges from being involved in a motor vehicle accident such as Criminal Vehicular Homicide or Injury charges. One should always hire a lawyer in these types of cases. We have the legal expertise to handle both your motor vehicle accident…
Read MoreCar Insurance: What Do The Numbers Mean and What is "Full Coverage" Any Way?
December 21, 2010 | John T. BuchmanPeople often purchase car insurance early in life and seldom revisit their insurance coverage with their agents. People often ask me, “How much coverage do I have?” or “What do the numbers mean?” Many are confident they have adequate insurance because they purchased “full coverage,” but what does that really mean? What do the Numbers Mean? Minnesota law regulates car insurance policies issued in Minnesota and sets various minimum coverages and types of mandatory as well as permissive coverages. If you look at your insurance card or declarations page from your insurer, you may see numbers such as: $100,000/$300,000/$50,000, P20A, 100,000/$300,000 UM/UIM (or U/W). So what do these numbers mean? Insurance coverages generally fall into three categories: liability; personal injury protection “PIP” or no fault; and uninsured/under insured motorist coverage. Liability Liability coverage protects you from lawsuits against you or an insured under your policy for car crashes for which you/they are legally responsible. In the above example, the most the insurance company would pay on your behalf is $100,000 per person for bodily injuries they suffer; $300,000 total for everyone injured in any one collision and $50,000 in property damage (including cars, roadside light poles, etc.). (You can and should consider higher coverages). PIP or No-Fault This is the coverage that exists…
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