Having represented persons involved in motor vehicle collisions for many years, this is a question I wish more clients would have address before being the victim of an injury resulting from the negligence of another driver. Whenever I give presentations with respect to personal injury, this is also the number one recommendation I have for people - GET MORE INSURANCE AND PROTECT YOURSELF!!
Per Illinois law, persons operating a motor vehicle need only have a minimum of $20,000.00 in liability coverage. (For complete list of state insurance requirements - see www.insure.com). This means, that if one is the victim of an injury due to the negligence of another driver and you incur medical bills over $20,000, it is unlikely that you will recover anything more than $20,000.
What is the problem you might ask? Well, in today's world, medical treatment costs have risen to all time highs. A person can incur medical bills totaling over $20,000 very quickly, considering the large costs of Hospital care, tests such as x-rays and MRI's, and physical therapy. If a person sustains and injury requiring hospitalization or surgery, it is likely that his/her bills will go over $20,000. Legally, the person responsible for an accident (the Defendant) can be personally liable for any medical charges or pain and suffering as a result of their negligence over and above $20,000; however, in today's society, most people don't have large sums of extra money laying around and thus, it's difficult to recover anything further from them personally.
What should you do to protect yourself? You can obtain coverage on your own, called underinsured coverage. This would pay for anything over and above what is paid by the Defendant (over $20,000 for example, or an additional $80,000 if you had a $100,000 underinsured policy. I would recommend a policy of AT LEAST $100,000 to ensure you can recover both the medical loss and pain and suffering caused by another negligent driver. I have been told by many insurance agents that the difference in an underinsured policy of $20,000 versus $100,000, is many times only $5 to $10 extra dollars per month. Considering statistics show motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 3-33 since 2002, why take the risk of having little to no insurance to properly compensate you for a loss? If you seek the proper coverage BEFORE your accident, you won't have to wonder why you can only recover such a small amount if your the victim of an injury caused by the negligence of a driver with low insurance coverage.
Per Illinois law, persons operating a motor vehicle need only have a minimum of $20,000.00 in liability coverage. (For complete list of state insurance requirements - see www.insure.com). This means, that if one is the victim of an injury due to the negligence of another driver and you incur medical bills over $20,000, it is unlikely that you will recover anything more than $20,000.
What is the problem you might ask? Well, in today's world, medical treatment costs have risen to all time highs. A person can incur medical bills totaling over $20,000 very quickly, considering the large costs of Hospital care, tests such as x-rays and MRI's, and physical therapy. If a person sustains and injury requiring hospitalization or surgery, it is likely that his/her bills will go over $20,000. Legally, the person responsible for an accident (the Defendant) can be personally liable for any medical charges or pain and suffering as a result of their negligence over and above $20,000; however, in today's society, most people don't have large sums of extra money laying around and thus, it's difficult to recover anything further from them personally.
What should you do to protect yourself? You can obtain coverage on your own, called underinsured coverage. This would pay for anything over and above what is paid by the Defendant (over $20,000 for example, or an additional $80,000 if you had a $100,000 underinsured policy. I would recommend a policy of AT LEAST $100,000 to ensure you can recover both the medical loss and pain and suffering caused by another negligent driver. I have been told by many insurance agents that the difference in an underinsured policy of $20,000 versus $100,000, is many times only $5 to $10 extra dollars per month. Considering statistics show motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 3-33 since 2002, why take the risk of having little to no insurance to properly compensate you for a loss? If you seek the proper coverage BEFORE your accident, you won't have to wonder why you can only recover such a small amount if your the victim of an injury caused by the negligence of a driver with low insurance coverage.
