Most people when they buy their auto insurance also buy uninsured and underinsured motorists coverages.  It is not surprising that most people pay little attention to those coverages and most insurance agents, in my opinion, don’t really explain to you how those coverages work.  Then, you get in an accident, and find out that the person that caused the accident either has NO insurance, or insurance with very low liability limits.  In many states, including Illinois, every driver is required to have a minimum of $20,000 in coverage.  Those policies are sold by alleged substandard insurance companies and many  people of limited means may pay the first premium to get the insurance card, then stop paying.  When they get in an accident, they show the police the insurance card in the hope of avoiding getting a ticket for no insurance.  But where does that leave you, the seriously injured person?  You’ve been hit by someone that, on the best of days, has $20,000 in coverage to apply to your claim, yet your claim may be worth much, much more than that.  So what do you do?  You have to then look at your uninsured or underinsured coverages.  If the other driver had NO insurance, then your uninsured coverage applies.  If the other driver had insurance with limits clearly not sufficient to pay for the full value of your injury claim, then your  underinsured coverage should apply.  But, how in the world do you do that?

     In prior blogs, I have touched on this issue and will repeat it here.  Handling by yourself your uninsured or underinsured claim is COMPLICATED!!!  You would be well served by hiring a lawyer.  Here is a real life example from a case I handled.   A young family man with 3 beautiful kids and a darling wife was on his way home from work when a drunk driver crossed the center-line and hit him head on.  It was a miracle he survived.  The drunk driver did not.  The drunk driver had no insurance.   Imagine that.  My client had devastating injuries that will affect him and his family for the rest of his life.  Under his own uninsured motorists coverage, he had $100,000 in coverage.  When he called me, I met with him and his wife to discuss what could happen.  I openly told him that he could handle his case by himself, and what would happen.  My client at that point had over $250,000 in medical bills.  The first $10,000 had been paid by his own auto insurance under his medical payments section.  The remainder had been paid by his group health insurance from his job.  I told him that he could call his insurance company and demand the $100,000.  I told him that his insurance company would want him to sign authorizations to get his records and bills, and then they would call him and tell him they would send him a check for $90,000, and the check would be made payable to him and his group health insurance.  He asked what he could do with that check?  I honestly told him that he would then have to call his group health insurance and they would tell him that under his insurance contract with them, he would have to sign the check over to them.  My client then asked me what he got out of it, and I honestly told him he would get NOTHING if he didn’t hire a lawyer.  All of his work would only get the insurance companies paid.  He was obviously shocked and angry.  He couldn’t figure out how after buying $100,000 in uninsured protection, that he got none of it.  He then asked what he would get if he hired a lawyer (me).  I told him that I couldn’t be exact, but that if it all worked out like I expected it to, that he and his wife would get about $33,000. 

     Well, how did that work out?  Almost to the penny, he and his wife got $35,000, slightly more than what I predicted.  How come he couldn’t do it himself and get that amount?  Where did the rest go?  As to where the rest went, read my last post about how many hands go digging into your settlement. 

     So, in most cases, do yourself a HUGE favor, and get an experienced injury lawyer working on your side.  But for you  “do-it-yourselfers” out there, here are some things to keep in mind.   Uninsured and underinsured claims arise out of your insurance CONTRACT!  You guessed it.  When you bought the insurance, you entered into a contract with your insurance company.  Each clause of that contract is important, and you must follow each step exactly as it is outlined in your policy.  You may be required to SUE the uninsured driver to protect your own insurance companies subrogation rights!  You WILL NEED TO DEMAND ARBITRATION under the terms of your policy.  You WILL have to disclose an arbitrator.  You WILL have to give a statement to your insurance company.  You WILL have to resolve the LIEN of your group health insurance company or they  snap up some or all of your money too.  And I don’t think your insurance company will tell you  that they may not be entitled to get back what they paid for medical payments for you.

     So that is how it works.  Easy enough isn’t it? This blog just scratches the surface of handling uninsured/underinsured claims.  They can be further complicated if workers’ compensation is involved, if there are multiple people in your car, if there are multiple cars involved in the accident, etc.  But even assuming you can get through all of that on your  own, and I am sure there are many bright people out there that can do that, I will then ask, how do you know how much your case is worth?  A topic of prior blog.  You are a skilled artisan in your own craft, do yourself and your loved ones a favor and leave it to an experienced injury lawyer to help.  Good luck!