Car accidents occur frequently in Florida. In fact, in 2021 there were over 100,000 hit-and-run accidents alone. What is more, a recent study showed that approximately 26.7% of Florida drivers do not carry insurance. Additionally, under Florida law drivers are generally not required to carry bodily injury insurance. Well, what happens when there is an accident and the insurance limits are small? What happens when a car accident claim exceeds insurance limits?
We will discuss this issue in this post!
How Do You Know When A Car Accident Claim Will Be More Than Insurance Limits
Perhaps the quickest way to know when a car accident claim will be higher than insurance limits is when the accident involves serious injuries and the negligent driver has $10,000 in bodily injury coverage. Serious injuries will almost always involve surgical procedures, large medical bills, lengthy recovery, wage loss, and other damages. Any single one of these areas of damage can exceed $10,000 in bodily injury coverage.
As an example, we recently represented a client who was involved in a car accident in Broward County. Our client sustained injuries and was taken to the emergency room. His emergency room bill was over $40,000 and shortly thereafter we learned the negligent driver only had $10,000 in bodily injury coverage. Realizing the negligence of its driver and size of my client’s medical bills, the negligent driver’s insurance carrier quickly paid the $10,000.
Are there any steps you can take to see if there is other insurance coverage or assets available? Yes, there are other steps you can take to see if you can increase your recovery.
1. Thoroughly Investigate All Potential Sources of Insurance Coverage
If the negligent driver has low insurance limits, there still may be other insurance coverage available to you.
First, the quickest way to increase the amount of insurance coverage is to see whether you have underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage. If you have this coverage, it could increase your recovery. In my experience, many of my clients do not even realize they have this coverage.
Second, you must check and see if the negligent driver had other insurance coverage available to him or her. How do you do this? One way is to request the negligent driver complete an affidavit of no other insurance. To read more about affidavits of no other insurance, click here.
Third, your personal injury lawyer should check for other sources of insurance coverage. For example, there may be other drivers or parties who may have caused the accident. These other drivers or parties may have insurance coverage to pay for your damages.
2. Check The Negligent Driver’s Assets
In addition to checking for other sources of insurance coverage, you should also check to see if the negligent driver has assets to contribute to your potential settlement.
In the majority of cases, the negligent driver will not be in a position to make a financial contribution to the settlement.
However, there may be occasion where the negligent driver had low insurance limits, but has the financial resources to contribute to the settlement.
3. Negotiate Medical Bills
If you are in the position where you claim or damages exceed insurance limits, one of the best ways to increase your recovery is to negotiate your medical bills.
In most cases, medical providers will be willing to negotiate their medical bills. Further, most health insurance companies are also willing to reduce their health insurance liens. This is particularly true when medical providers and health insurers learn that the negligent driver had little or low insurance coverage. In fact, in some cases you can save thousands of dollars by negotiating your medical bills.
Consequently, make sure your personal injury attorney negotiates your medical bills. It could mean thousands of dollars in your pocket.
We hope you enjoyed reading, “What Happens When A Car Accident Claim Exceeds Insurance Limits.”
If you were in a car accident, call us today!