by Shena Aingway
Illinois like many other states in US has not implemented the legislation on no fault. A person can get his medical expense or income loss from an accident covered only after determining the guilty party.
Coverage on Car insurance can be classified into two. The coverage that covers yourself and your property is the First party insurance coverage. Medical costs, damage to your vehicle, legal cost to defend yourself if you are sued by the other party, etc are covered in this policy. The other type is the third party insurance coverage which helps you in paying others for any damage caused to them by you. The extent of both the coverage in Illinois is finalized by the insurance policy.
There is a minimum cover one should have as per the laws of Illinois. A minimum of $20K is required if the injury is to one person and an amount of $40K is required if the injury is to more than one person in the accident. Also a cover on property damage for a minimum of $15K is required. However these amounts are not sufficient in today’s world. Hence it is advisable to buy insurance policy that gives more cover than these amounts.
There are 2 common limits on car insurance. One of them is having a limit of $100K for single person injury and $300K for multiple persons. The limits on the other option are $300K for single person and $500K for multiple person injuries.
Apart from increasing the cover limits, one may also have to add coverage on medical expenses. Since the no fault legislation is not implemented in Illinois it is up to the driver or owner to decide whether they need this cover. This is similar to a health insurance and is commonly known as PIP or Personal Injury Protection. In such coverage, the insurance company would mention the maximum the insurer would pay for the insured.
For persons who have earlier suffered from personal injuries in an accident, there are two more options which might be of their interest. The policies we are talking about is the under insured and uninsured benefits for motorists. We would still find people driving their vehicle without insurance or inadequate insurance despite the fact that there is some minimum amount coverage to be carried as per the law of Illinois. This is where the mentioned motorists’ benefits come into play. They pay for the damages when you meet with an accident and the person involved is either uninsured or under insured. When you buy an insurance policy in the state of Illinois the you automatically sign for an uninsured policy coverage too unless you have specifically signed the form known as UM waver form.
As discussed in this article, the insurance policy documents for the policy owned by the owner or the driver is the key in determining the amount one can recover when they suffer from some personal injury. The language might have a outward look of being straightforward but might have a meaning which may not be easy to read for an ordinary person. There are also other problems to be solved for the persons who suffer from accidental injuries and each problem is unique. There is no clear cut method or steps to follow or any recommendation as to what is the best way. There is however one thing for sure. The timelines within which one should start on the legal proceedings are very strict. Even filling out claim forms with the insurance company has predetermined timelines.
The best way is to approach a lawyer who offers their first consultation for free. The intention of this article is not to provide legal advice. This article is just to give you an overview on the different policies. You can get in touch with Injury Alliance to find a lawyer who specializes in such car accident cases.
...
|
|