Will Insurance Coverage Fairly Compensate Victims?

Having the Right Lawyer Key to Finding Insurance Coverage

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Every Parent’s Nightmare

You may have heard about the recent teen drinking party at a house in Steuben County, that resulted in an accident involving a small car that rolled over packed with nine kids inside. Many of the kids in the car were hurt very, very badly. The teen driver has been charged with DWI, and details continue to trickle out, including evidence that the homeowner may have supplied the kids with the booze.
The problem that the injured folks are going to face when they sue the driver (and possibly the homeowner) for their injuries, will be that there is a good likelihood that there will not be enough insurance money available to fairly compensate the accident victims. Which is unfair and unjust, particularly when you have young people who will never be the same due to the severity and permanency of their injuries.
Here is how it works: auto insurance policies are written usually with two different limits- the maximum amount of money the insurance company will pay to any one person injured in an accident, and a second limit representing the total amount the insurance company will have to pay all people injured in the accident. It is usually written like this- $100,000/$300,000, meaning that the most the company will pay to any one person hurt in the crash is $100,000 and the most the company will pay all people injured in the accident is $300,000.
It just so happens that the insurance policy limits on the car involved in the crash is $100,000/$300,000 (yes, I am the lawyer for one of the crash victims), which I know is woefully small given just how badly several of the occupants were injured. What can the crash victims do then to seek fair compensation for their case?
Well, they need to look for other available insurance coverage, starting with their own family’s auto policy to see if they have “SUM” coverage, which stands for “supplementary underinsured motorist” coverage. If they have this special insurance, they may be able to make a claim against their own policy. For working people trying to support a family, this extra coverage can be the difference between keeping a roof over the family’s head, and financial ruin.
The same goes for the family of the driver who caused the accident. If they do not have the right insurance coverage there is a good chance they will go bankrupt after the lawsuits. This is because if there is not enough insurance, the family will have to come up with the money to pay the accident victims out of their own pocket.
And then there is the homeowner’s insurance (maybe). We don’t know yet if the homeowner will be held legally responsible for the crash, or if they even have homeowner’s insurance.
What should you take away from all of this? Lots. First, talk to your teenager and make an agreement with him/her that if they are ever out drinking or are with someone who has been and they need a ride home, they promise to call you for a ride and you promise to give them that ride, no questions asked.
Second, (and I can’t believe some parents still do this), never ever provide alcohol to persons under age twenty one. Unless of course you want to go to jail and get your pants sued off.
And lastly, call your insurance agent RIGHT NOW and buy as much SUM insurance as your agent will sell you. You don’t want to end up in a hospital bed with permanent injuries that will stop you from ever returning to work, unable to provide for your family.


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