Sometimes bad things happen to good people. One of the more frequent examples of this occurs when a driver obeying all of the traffic laws is involved in a car accident. Usually, if you are not at fault, the other driver’s insurance will cover the damages to your vehicle as well as your reasonable medical expenses.
Most states, including Texas, have a law that requires drivers to maintain a liability insurance policy. If a driver does not have liability insurance that meets the minimum required levels of insurance coverage, they are committing a crime known in Texas as “Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility.”
Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly common for motorists to attempt to avoid complying with this law. During tough economic times, many think liability insurance is an expense they can cross off without any consequences. In fact, one study found that approximately fourteen percent of drivers are uninsured nationwide.
This obviously creates a huge risk for otherwise law abiding drivers every single day. While you may have liability insurance and obey all of the traffic laws during your daily commute, you never know when someone else may cause an accident and what kind of coverage, if any, they have.
What’s more, a limited liability policy is just that: limited to the bare minimum amount of coverage that the State requires. This means that there is a cap to how much that negligent driver’s insurance company will pay you, even if they completely agree the accident was not your fault. Insurance companies are only liable for the policy cap amounts for both property damage and personal injuries and they don’t have to pay a dime over the policy limits.
Can you imagine being involved in an accident that was not your fault and then finding out that the person that hit you has no coverage to pay your repair or hospital bills? Or that they can only pay for a portion of it, leaving you to figure out how to cover the rest?
It is for these reasons that we highly recommend all drivers to obtain both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. And if you are involved in a car accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist, do not give up hope. Contact the experienced Personal Injury Department at Lanzillo Law, PLLC to speak with an attorney that can help get you all of the money you deserve.