Underinsured Motorist Claims

Every day, all across this country, negligent drivers with inadequate insurance coverage are responsible for causing serious accidents resulting in catastrophic personal injury and death. All states require a minimal amount of bodily injury liability coverage on every policy sold in that state. In Missouri, every automobile insurance policy must provide a minimum of $25,000 per person in bodily injury liability coverage. In order to maximize their risk of exposure and corporate profits, insurance companies like to write the $25,000 minimal coverage policies, particularly to high risk motorists most likely to be involved in accidents.

As a result, these drivers usually carry the least insurance coverage for the harms they inflict. If you have been injured by an underinsured motorist, a West Plains personal injury attorney from Henry, Williams & Kinder, P.C., can protect you from large insurance companies who don't want to give you the compensation you deserve.

Get your free initial consultation with our qualified injury attorneys - 80+ years of combined experience working for you!

Underinsured motorist coverage is always available to the policyholder or the person whose name appears on the automobile policy. However, the coverage does not end there. Usually, and in most instances, the underinsured motorist coverage extends to family members of the named policyholder as well as to passengers of an automobile which is insured. You do not have to be a policyholder, family member of a policyholder or passenger to be eligible for underinsured motorist benefits. You may also be entitled to underinsured motorist coverage if you were a pedestrian, bicyclist, motorcycle rider or passenger, or even a bystander so long as the negligent motorist who caused your injuries was operating an underinsured motor vehicle at the time of your accident.

The underinsured motorist coverage required by Missouri law is for bodily injuries. Bodily injuries include compensation for the obvious losses of past and future medical bills you may incur as a result of the accident, past and future lost earnings as well as your pain and suffering. Most policies do not cover property damage such as the damage to your vehicle, although some underinsured motorist coverage will cover property damage if an added premium is paid for that coverage.

Yes, there are some very important conditions which must be met or your underinsured motorist coverage claim may be denied.

Some Of Those Requirements Include The Following:

• If suit is filed against the at-fault party, your policy will normally contain a requirement that copies of the suit papers be promptly submitted to your carrier to put them on notice of that suit. Failure to provide that notice may cost you your coverage.
• If you reach a settlement with the at-fault party and their insurance carrier, your policy will almost always require that you obtain prior written consent from your insurance company before concluding that settlement. Failure to obtain that prior written consent may cost you your coverage.
• You must exhaust or use up the full amount of the at-fault party's insurance to be eligible for your underinsured motorist coverage. Failure to exhaust that coverage will deprive you of yours. In other words, if the at-fault party carries $50,000 in coverage, you cannot settle for $49,900.
• When you settle with the at-fault party's insurance company, you should not sign a full release of all claims, but rather should sign a limited release reserving your underinsured motorist claims. Most law offices handling these claims, will want to include a special paragraph specifically reserving the underinsured motorist claim when signing off on the release of the claims against the at-fault party and their carrier.