Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists

A motor vehicle accident can have a devastating impact on you and your family. If you or a loved one has been injured, contact our firm to schedule a consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney.

New York Personal Injury Attorneys Serving Clients Nationwide

Though we are perhaps best known for our motorcycle accident law practice, we also represent people injured in all kinds of motor vehicle accidents: car, bus and train accidents. Many of our clients rely on us to help them obtain compensation for serious to catastrophic injuries: wrist injuries, broken bones, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and amputations. Learn how Proner & Proner can represent you after a serious motorcycle or car accident. Contact us by phone or e-mail.

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A. Stanley Proner, our founder, and Mitchell Proner, motorcycle accident attorney, have brought successful claims and tried cases in courtrooms throughout New York and the U.S. Our clients have recovered millions of dollars in compensation.

When a driver refuses or is unable to carry proper motor vehicle insurance, that driver puts more than just him- or herself at risk. If the driver injures another person, the insurance will be inadequate to cover the damages. Injured parties, however, may be covered by their own insurance policies; uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage protects accident victims in these cases. If you have been involved in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver, contact Proner & Proner in New York, NY, schedule a consultation with a personal injury attorney to create a plan of action.

Uninsured Motorists

Even if your state requires all drivers to carry auto insurance, the driver who injured you or your passenger may not have had insurance. Or you may have been hurt in a hit-and-run accident, making it impossible to identify the driver at all.

This is when uninsured motorist coverage will step in to protect your interests. Many states require auto insurance companies to offer uninsured motorist coverage. If your insurance company offers uninsured motorist coverage, and you chose to include it in your policy, then your insurance company will act as if it were the at-fault driver's insurance company in compensating you.

When you file an uninsured motorist claim, your insurance company's interests can be adverse to your interests. Consulting with an attorney before filing a claim is wise.

Underinsured Motorists

When the at-fault driver is underinsured, this means that the driver has purchased an auto insurance policy that does not provide enough coverage to compensate you for your damages. If you have underinsured motorist coverage as part of your insurance policy, you may be able to collect, from your own insurance company, the amount of your damages that exceeds the at-fault driver's insurance coverage. The premium cost for underinsurance is not as costly as the primary coverage, and the amount of underinsurance protection should be at least the same amount that you have in your primary policy. For example, if you have a $100,000 policy protecting others from your negligence, you should at least have $100,000 in underinsurance coverage to protect yourself.

Collecting Insurance Benefits Under an Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Policy

To recover benefits under an uninsured or underinsured motorist policy, the injured party typically will need to show that the other motorist was at fault. The injured party will also need to prove that his or her bodily injuries were significant. To collect benefits under an underinsured motorist policy, the injured party must have received the entire amount of insurance coverage available from the at-fault driver's insurance company before the injured party can make a claim against his or her own insurance company under the underinsurance coverage provision.

Stacking Insurance Coverage

In some states and under some insurance policies, an injured party may "stack" various policies to reach a satisfactory level of compensation. By stacking coverage from more than one auto insurance policy — or coverage for more than one car on a single policy — the injured party increases monetary recovery. Stackable coverage is not allowed in every state; in some cases, the insured must choose to have stackable coverage upon purchasing the policy.

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage protects accident victims when they are most vulnerable. Not every policy has such coverage, however, and the victim's approach to the situation can change the level of compensation he or she receives. Indeed, some rules do not require the victim's insurance company to pay the victim if the victim settles prematurely with the at-fault motorist's insurance company. This is why it is so important to work with an experienced personal injury lawyer from Proner & Proner in New York, NY.

DISCLAIMER: This site and any information contained herein are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Seek competent legal counsel for advice on any legal matter.

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