With spring nearly here, the dry, cold winter days will soon be behind us, and summer will be at our doorsteps in the blink of an eye. While the winter months often bring treacherous weather, you may be surprised to learn that, according to the National Safety Council (NSC), car accidents happen more frequently in the summer months. In a report from 2021, the NSC looked back at the past several years and noted a pattern of the fewest motor-vehicle fatalities occurring in January and February, while July, August and October experienced the most.
With those stats in mind and the warmer months fast approaching, now is a smart time to check your car insurance coverage. All vehicle owners are required to carry car insurance for liability, no-fault and uninsured motorist coverage (UM) and supplementary underinsured motorist coverage (SUM).
Liability limits protect you and your assets if you cause a crash that injures others. The amount of liability coverage you buy equates to how much will be available if a claim is made against you. For instance, if you have 100/300 of liability coverage, that means $100,000 is available to any one person who is injured and a maximum total of $300,000 is available to all making claims. If you cause a crash that injures four people in the other car, $300,000 is the total maximum insurance available, but no one person may collect more than $100,000. The amount of liability insurance you choose to purchase should be based on the personal assets that you need to protect (i.e. bank accounts, your home, your income, etc.).
$50,000 of no-fault or personal injury protection (PIP) is the required minimum in New York State. This coverage provides money that goes directly to hospitals and medical providers who treat you after a car crash and can replace some of your lost wages. You may purchase additional PIP to boost your coverage at any time.
UM and SUM provide coverage for your pain and suffering if the driver of the car who caused a crash has no liability insurance at all, or less liability insurance than you carry. For instance, if the other driver failed to pay his car insurance bill and his coverage was cancelled, you can look to your own UM coverage for compensation for your own pain and suffering. If the other driver carried the minimum liability coverage in NYS of $25,000 and you carry liability limits greater than that (ex: $50,000 or more), then that other car is underinsured in comparison, and you may look to the SUM portion of your own policy for additional compensation for your pain and suffering.
For new policies that are being written in NYS, your own UM and SUM coverage must equal your liability limits. When older policies are being renewed, customers aren’t always alerted to this requirement. Sadly, our team at Feldman, Kleidman, Collins & Sappe LLP (FKC&S) sees clients with, for example, $300,000 in liability limits, but only $25,000 in UM and SUM coverage. This becomes a problem for some significantly injured clients who have enough liability coverage if they cause a crash, but almost nothing for their own pain and suffering if they are injured by a driver with little or no coverage.
We hope that you’ll consider this information and take some time to audit your own car insurance policies. Be sure to review each line carefully and make sure that you have adequate protection. When buying insurance to cover someone you may injure, factor yourself in too. Purchase the same amount to sufficiently cover your own injuries if a negligent driver is under or uninsured. This type of coverage is inexpensive and makes a world of difference.
If you or a loved one is ever injured in an accident, call us at 845-897-5199 or contact us to schedule a free consultation with our experienced team. At FKC&S you will always meet with an attorney and can feel confident knowing that they will be with you every step of the way.