Underinsured Motorist Coverage

It is common knowledge that if a person is involved in a motor vehicle accident in New York State and they are injured, a lawsuit can be brought to recover money damages. Most people are aware that the money recovered in such a lawsuit is usually paid by the insurance company that insures the motor vehicle that was being operated in a negligent or reckless manner. This is known as motor vehicle liability insurance coverage.

In New York State, like most states, the law requires anyone who owns a motor vehicle to purchase liability insurance coverage. In fact, anyone who operates a motor vehicle must ascertain that there is insurance coverage in force on the vehicle even if they do not own it. The law in New York also requires that the insurance policy must provide at least $25,000 in personal injury coverage. The minimum allowable insurance coverage policy is known as a 25/50 policy. That means that the policy will cover any one person injured in an accident up to a maximum of $25,000 for his or her bodily injuries. In the event that two persons are injured in the same accident, the policy will pay up to $25,000 to each of the injured persons. In no event will the insurance company be forced to pay more than a total of $50,000 for all the injured parties in one accident. This means that if three or more people were involved and injured in the same accident, the three or more injured people would have to share the $50,000 of insurance coverage.

If you or someone that you know has ever been injured in a motor vehicle accident, you know how little $25,000 can be. Serious injuries cannot be fairly compensated by an insurance policy that affords only $25,000 in coverage. In order to protect yourself from this situation, you can purchase Underinsured Motorist Insurance coverage from your own motor vehicle insurance company. If you own a motor vehicle and you have Underinsured Motorist coverage, your insurance company will pay you money for your injuries when the amount of insurance on the vehicle that caused the injuries is too low to fairly compensate you.

For a free legal consultation, call (212) 540-2984

You can purchase varying amounts of underinsured motorist insurance. If you have $50,000 of Underinsured Motorist coverage, and you are injured by someone who only has a $25,000 liability policy, you can recover a total of $50,000 for your injuries instead of only $25,000. In addition, you can purchase Underinsured Motorist coverage in higher amounts of $100,000 and more. Even if you do not own a motor vehicle yourself, you are entitled to the Underinsured Motorist coverage that is contained in any insurance policies that insure motor vehicles owned by your family members who live in your household.

Also, in the event that the motor vehicle that causes your injury is not insured and you own and insure a vehicle, your policy will cover you up to a minimum of $25,000. Just like underinsured coverage, you can increase the amount of your uninsured motorist insurance coverage.

If you compare the cost of the extra coverage for underinsured or uninsured coverage to what you are paying for your insurance without it or with minimum amounts, you will be surprised as to how inexpensive the extra coverage costs. It pays for you to look into this and purchase what you can afford. If you have any questions, you should call an attorney experienced in the handling of motor vehicle accident cases, including car accidents, bus accidents, truck accidents and pedestrian accidents.

Call or text (212) 540-2984 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form

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