If you are seriously injured in an automobile accident, your own insurance company may have to pay compensation for your medical bills, lost wages and, possibly, your non-economic losses like emotional distress or pain and suffering.
Sometimes, as an accident victim, your own insurance company is your best bet for compensation.
While in theory the person responsible for the accident should use his or her liability insurance to pay, too many people drive without insurance coverage.
Whether they have insurance or not, many other people will choose to flee after an accident rather than admit responsibility. Despite their best efforts, police do not catch every hit-and-run motorist.
In many other cases, a person may have insurance, but it is at the minimum amount required in Kentucky. While this is enough to allow a driver to operate legally on Kentucky’s roads, it won’t be close to the amount needed to pay for a serious or catastrophic accident even though the other driver is responsible for it.
You may be able to pursue reparation or UM/UIM benefits
Whether compensation is available will depend on what type of coverage you purchased.
In Kentucky, most drivers will purchase what are called reparation benefits. This is a coverage which requires your insurance company to pay medical bills, lost wages and other expenses up to a certain amount. These are paid without regard to fault in an accident. They do not, however, cover non-economic losses.
Also, many residents of the Lake Cumberland area may make a good decision and purchase uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.
If you purchase both of these coverages, your insurance company should step in to pay additional compensation if the responsible party does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance to cover a loss.
Filing a claim for one of these coverages is not always easy. Sometimes, even your own insurance company may unfairly deny a claim or underpay what it owes. In these cases, my law firm can step in to fight for the compensation you deserve.
