I was recently in an auto accident where I sustained serious injuries and my car was totalled. The other party is 100% at fault and has admitted that, and their insurance company is offering to pay the max amount of their policy on bodily injury (they have minimum coverage, so their policy in GA is 25K for bodily injury and 25K for property damage). The 25K they have offered as the policy limit for medical does not come close to paying my bills. Out of the 25K available towards property damage, they have paid 7K to my insurance company for totalling my car (my insurance company paid me the 7K while we dealt with establishing fault) and they paid me $ 1500 towards the items in my car that were destroyed as a result of the accident. Is there any way to get them to pay me the difference between the 25K available towards property damage and the $ 8500 they have paid out, as that money would make a huge difference towards the medical bills I am going to be out of pocket on.
I tried filing underinsured motorists with my insurance company - apparently you can't do that in Georgia. I do have uninsured motorists, but they have stated that I can only use it if hit by someone without insurance, if they don't have enough I'm out of luck. I went through multiple layers of management at my insurance company trying to get them to cover me but they pretty much said no.
I have the maximum coverage possible in GA - underinsured motorist is not even an option on the policy or I would have already had it. (Ironic isn't it that a maximum coverage person is hit by a minimum coverage person). The release I would have to sign to take the 25K states that I release both the other insurance company and the driver from any future litigation, etc. - I assume that means I can't sue them personally (though from what I've been able to learn about them they have nothing to go after). I am curious as to if this means criminal charges cannot be pursued - this was initially a hit and run accident and I believe the police are going to charge the driver with running. Even though they were found and owned up to what they did I don't want my taking the 25K to release them from that legal liability as well.
There is a separate, ongoing criminal investigation going on related to this accident due to it being a hit and run - the other driver thought I was dead and ran. That is separate from the insurance issue.
Brown Pit named Blue
No. They will not pay out more on the property damage to cover medical bills.
You need to call your own insurance and file a claim for "Underinsured motorists". That will help with the rest of your medical bills.
ADD: Sorry, I was going to add something until I re-read your question.
One other suggestion- If the other driver has an umbrella policy (catastrophe policy) there may be some coverage there. I doubt that person would tell you, though.
la428282
No- property damage coverage is for property damage alone. You can't just transfer money from one coverage to another. Wont happen in a million years- no matter how much you ask, threaten, get a lawyer, etc.
You will only get 25k from his insurance company for your injury- no if's and or butts.
If you dont have UIM coverage (underinsured motorist) in Georgia or on your policy then unfortunately you are stuck with the remaining bills. You can sue the person directly but odds are they wont have the money.
♥ Uwish ♥
In short to answer your question..... NO
The Bodily Injury pays for your injuries. If they did not carry sufficient coverage then you could file with your Under insured coverage, if you had it.
Just be glad they had minimum coverages.
If you still have outstanding medical bills, call the providers and negotiate with them to reduce your bills.
And UIM (Under Insured Motorist) is available in Georgia and if you do not have that on your policy, then you had to have signed an exclusion stating that you reject the UIM coverage.
mbrcatz
No. Property damage only ever, ever covers damage to property.
In GA, the coverage is, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. ONE coverage. But for UNDERINSURED motorists, it pays the difference between YOUR limit, and THEIR limit. So, it sounds like to me, that you only have $ 25,000 un/underinsured motorist coverage. So YOU are underinsured. TALK TO YOUR AGENT. Unless, of course, you bypassed the agent, and did "do it yourself" insurance directly with a company. Which is now coming back to bite you in the butt.
You can try submitting medical bills to your health insurance. And, certainly, you can tell them you'll accept the $ 25K from them, WITHOUT the release, OR, you'll refuse it, forcing them to pay both court costs and legal fees, for the defense, PLUS the $ 25K - they're going to have to pay it anyway, AND you'll get the judgement for the rest from the person. So the other company SHOULD bend on that part.
Now go call your insurance company, and increase your limits to at LEAST $ 100,000, for un/underinsured motorist - which will, btw, require that you increase your LIABILITY coverage to at least that amount, as well, as you can't insure yourself for more than you insure the other guy. The reason I say this, is so that if you get hit tomorrow, in the same kind of scenario, you don't have the same uninsured situation AGAIN.
Lawnboy & Luna
Your claim is a civil action not a criminal action. If you release them and the insurance company, you cannot sue them directly. The insurance company is not going to give you the difference. Unfortunately, the other guy had minimal bodily injury limits. You can file suit and try to attached his assets, but it is doubtful you will ever see a dime.
I think you need to revisit your Underinsured Coverage. GA does offer this coverage. However, do you only have $ 25k? If so, it is like having nothing. The insurance takes the offset from what you received from the tort feasor. In this case, $ 25k minus your $ 25k gives you zero. However, if you had $ 100k, you would have been entitled to $ 75k after the offset.
Refer to this article: http://www.atlanta-injury-attorney-blog.com/2008/05/uninsuredunderinsured_motorist.html
Wounded Warriors bike, swim and run to test their strength at the Memorial Day Mini-Try on May 27, hosted by the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center
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This is the audio of the MAST shooting in KC, MO. There are some scene safety tip as well as information on other recent EMS/Fire involved shootings. There is no such thing as a "safe scene" anymore for EMS responders. Our prayers go out to those who have been killed and their families. Until the dangers are recognized and addressed EMS providers will still not be seen as working in a dangerous environment. Injury due to assault is the number 1 reason EMS providers are injured on the job. Many states have passed laws to provide stiffer penalties to those who assault EMS Providers. It is up to all of us to press charges each and every time an assault on EMS happens!
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Orignal From: Can an auto insurance policy pay out the max on both bodily injury and property damage to cover medical bills?
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