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State Minimum Auto Liability Coverage is Inadequate

Sure, you’re a responsible driver. But is your state-minimum, bare bones auto insurance coverage really sufficient to cover your risks?

Yes, every state imposes a minimum on liability insurance coverage. This coverage not only protects you against having creditors forcibly seize your assets and land you in bankruptcy court; it also helps protect others around you, by ensuring that no matter what their medical issue or damages, there is enough liquidity on the table to make sure they are economically protected.

But state minimums aren’t designed for most individuals, especially the affluent and do not provide them with the real protection they need. State legislatures must set liability minimums low enough so that insurance coverage is affordable even for poor families – so at least they’ll get something rather than drive completely uninsured. State minimums are not designed to provide really adequate protection for drivers who have assets or make a decent income and are those who are targets for legal action.

The Owner is At Risk

Remember, even if you lent your car to someone else for the weekend – if he or she crashes it, and causes damage, it’s you, as the car owner, who is ultimately responsible. Owners are first in line, ahead of drivers, when plaintiffs’ lawyers start looking to collect on damages not covered by auto insurance.

How Big Can Judgments Be?

Judgments for damages in auto accidents are very frequently $50,000 and over and can range into the millions. We looked at actual judgments obtained by just one small law firm in Las Vegas, Nevada, and found instances like these:

  • $200,000 in liability for just one accident involving a motorcycle.
  • $265,000 for a T-bone auto accident.
  • $300,000 for a leg injury to a pedestrian.
  • $750,000 for a rear end accident with injury.
  • $2,000,000 for another rear-end accident with serious injury.
  • 2,900,000 for a wrongful death claim.

Your state-mandated minimum of $15,000 to $100,000 per accident should cover most fenderbenders, but it is woefully inadequate for the real risk. If you are sued, and the plaintiff wins, you will be held responsible for the whole judgment over the amount of your coverage.

Asset Protection

If someone involved in an accident sues you and wins, he will receive a payment from your insurance company, up to the limit of coverage.  When the payment is inadequate, they may take additional action. They may sue to seize your personal assets – your bank account, your vehicles, property, business and even your home in some jurisdictions. They may also file to garnish your wages. The fallout could easily force you into bankruptcy – and severely disrupt your life.

If you have any kind of hard-earned assets that are at risk of creditor action, you may want to consider buying extra liability coverage. The more assets you have, the more likely you are to be targeted. After all, plaintiffs’ lawyers know that judgments are easier to collect from the affluent than the poor. But even middle class people have a lot to lose by carrying inadequate liability insurance coverage.

Liability Insurance

You may consider two kinds of insurance: additional liability insurance for your car, over and above the state-mandated minimum, and umbrella coverage, which helps protect your assets against losses from a wider variety of sources. This can be especially important for parents of teenagers who are risky drivers and who may drive someone else’s car, or have a party at the house while you and other adults are out of town. When a youngster leaves the party at your house after drinking, and has a wreck, you could be held liable.

To assess your exposure, sit down with a licensed insurance professional, your attorney, or both. It’s easy to tailor a remarkably affordable plan to provide more realistic protection against the actual risks of liability – but you have to do it before the accident.

  • Fill your gas tank. Many times, gas stations
    run out of fuel in the day or so before a storm. If you can’t fuel your
    vehicle, you can’t evacuate. And you may not be able to function.
  • Get a battery-operated radio. Don’t
    count on cell phones working for a number of days after a storm.
  • You may be without power for as long as two
    weeks and sometimes longer. Keep nonperishables, batteries and flashlights.
  • Keep your generator outdoors. Every year, people
    die from carbon monoxide poisoning because they moved their generator indoors
    to protect it from theft.
  • Understand your generator’s capacity. Generators
    have a limited load. This is especially important to know when you start up
    electrical items connected to the generator, because startups cause a spike in
    electrical demand.
  • Know your neighbors. Your neighbors may have a
    harder time preparing or evacuating from storms than you do, because of
    frailty, disability, young children, poverty or lack of reliable
    transportation.
  • Look out for family members of emergency
    responders. Police, fire department, National Guard members and medical
    personnel often have to concentrate on preparing for the mission, and have less
    time to attend to their own homes and families.
  • Know your community emergency management contacts.
    You can find an online listing at http://www.ready.gov/community-state-info
  • Don’t underestimate tropical storms. Just
    because it’s not a hurricane doesn’t mean it can’t do a lot of damage locally.
    Tropical storms can dump as much rain as a hurricane.
  • By understanding these guidelines, you can be an asset to
    your community in the event of a hurricane, instead of a drain on emergency
    resources. You will also have an easier time getting reimbursed by your
    insurance company for any damage done, and be doing your part to keep overall
    hurricane insurance premiums down.

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