Sadly, the news is filled every day with stories of people of all ages dying as a result of a car accident. In some cases, the accident was the fault of another driver (Example: drunk
driving, texting and driving, speeding, etc.). Unfortunately, family members of
those who die in a car accident are left with the burden of paying for medical
bills for emergency care or funeral bills. Even more, some families lose the
wage earner of the family and are left without any income to pay the bills.
Sometimes these accidents are caused by drivers of company vehicles that have large liability insurance policies that may come into play to help compensate the victim’s family.
However, it is particularly concerning when the “at fault” driver only has a
small personal liability auto policy. In Texas, if you operate a vehicle, that
vehicle must at a minimum be covered by $30,000.00 liability insurance per
person or $60,000.00 per accident. Sadly, most vehicles on the road today only
have this minimum insurance coverage. As we all know, there is not enough money
on this earth to compensate a family for the loss of a loved one. Even more,
$30,000.00 does not begin to cover the out of pocket costs that most families face
when they lose a loved one as a result of an auto accident.
This problem is only made worse when there are multiple people injured/killed in an
accident. For example, if a driver under the influence of alcohol leaves the
road and hits a tree and kills his 3 passengers, the passengers’ families may
dispute who is entitled to the total $60,000.00 in insurance coverage. It is
entirely possible that the insurance company could give $30,000.00 to the
family of one of the deceased passengers and $30,000.00 to the family of
another deceased passenger and the third passenger’s family is left without any
compensation to cover medical expenses, out of pocket expenses, funeral
expenses, etc.
If you or a loved one are sadly faced with a similar situation, it is very important that you contact an attorney immediately. An attorney may be able to help you recover adequate
compensation before any applicable proceeds are disbursed unfairly. Similarly,
an attorney may be able to seek out additional insurance coverage that was
unknown at the time of the accident.
The loss of a loved one is hard enough, but it is made more difficult when families are forced to fight against large insurance companies on their own to seek adequate compensation.