The motor vehicle insurance you carry protects you from liability or financial responsibility for the losses that you cause someone else. If you are the one ultimately at fault for a crash, the other driver can make a claim against your coverage for damage to their vehicle, the medical care they require because of any injuries they suffered and the lost wages caused by the crash.
Your insurance pays on your behalf so that you don’t have to worry about the other party making the claim against your personal property or your future income. Many professionals in Connecticut carry excellent insurance so that they won’t have any risk even if they cause some kind of catastrophic collision.
Unfortunately, there are also plenty of drivers on the Connecticut roads that only carry the minimum amount of coverage required under state law. If you get into a wreck caused by one of those drivers, your policy could fall far short of the coverage you actually need.
What does Connecticut require?
Every driver has to carry both bodily injury and property damage liability coverage. You can count on at least $25,000 worth of property damage coverage to help repair or replace your vehicle.
In a crash where you are the only one who gets hurt, there should be at least $25,000 worth of bodily injury liability protection to cover medical costs and your lost income. If multiple people get hurt, that bodily injury liability coverage goes up to $50,000, although you have to share it with the other injured parties.
Even a broken bone that requires surgery could leave you with uncovered medical expenses with such low coverage amounts. Catastrophic injuries like amputations, traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries could leave you with hundreds of thousands of dollars and uncovered medical expenses and lost income.
Who pays when the insurance isn’t adequate?
If the other driver doesn’t have enough liability coverage, your own, more comprehensive insurance could help you. Drivers who pay for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can make a claim for uncovered losses against their own policy.
However, as you likely know, making a substantial claim against your own policy will increase what you have to pay for insurance in the future. Even if you have coverage, you may want to explore alternate forms of compensation before making your claim against it. A civil lawsuit against the other driver can be an option when their insurance doesn’t cover all of your losses.
Learning about uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage after a car crash can help you ensure you get the financial compensation you deserve.
