Drivers in Pennsylvania have a legal obligation to carry insurance coverage. The required liability coverage protects individuals against financial losses when they are to blame for a crash. Instead of facing a lawsuit, drivers who cause collisions only have to worry about an insurance claim against their policies.
Since you were not the one to blame for the collision you recently experienced, you likely respect the driver who was to blame to provide you with coverage for your vehicle repair costs and injury-related expenses.
Some people hurt in collisions will unfortunately learn after making a claim that there won’t be enough insurance for their needs. What are the three most common reasons that people have uncovered expenses from a car crash?
They encounter an uninsured driver
Although state law requires insurance, some drivers don’t maintain coverage the way that they should. If you end up hurt by a driver without insurance, the only protection you may have available to you is uninsured motorist protection on your own policy.
They get hurt by an underinsured driver
There are thousands of drivers in Pennsylvania who do have insurance but only carry the least amount they can based on state law. Especially if a crash results in catastrophic injuries to an individual or a fatality, the limited bodily injury coverage available on a basic policy could leave massive, uncovered expenses.
The insurance company manipulates them
You may trust the insurance company to do what is right by you, but that isn’t always what happens. They may try to pay you far less than the maximum available amount of coverage by offering you a low settlement or otherwise engaging in bad faith Insurance practices. Many people hurt after a crash or who need to replace a totaled vehicle will accept the first settlement offer from an insurance company when they may have had the right to seek far more compensation.
If you find yourself struggling to make ends meet after a car crash, you may need to look at other ways to secure compensation, such as civil lawsuits. Recognizing the limitations of insurance after a car crash can help those affected by a wreck.