Amazingly, the Connecticut Legislature was unable to get House Bill No. 5515 An Act Increasing The Financial Responsibility Limits for Motor Vehicles out of committee. The proposed legislation would have increased the auto libability insurance minimum limits from $20,000 per individual/$40,000 per occurrence to $25,000 per individual/$50,000 per occurrence. What are elected representatives were thinking in killing this bill is beyond me. Connecticut is one of the most expensive states to live in. If you are involved in a car or truck accident and sustain serious injuries, your medical bills alone will exceed $20,000. Yet, Connecticut continues to allow motorists to drive with minimal coverage of 20/40. Furthermore, if you are hit by someone who was at fault for causing the collision and both the tortfeasor and you have a 20/40 policy, there is only $20,000 total to compensate for your injuries. Aynone driving in the State of Connecticut should have at least 100/300 policy limits with conversion underinsured motorist benefits. Conversion underinsured motorist benefits allows for the stacking of your policy on the tortfeasor’s policy. Without conversion, you cannot stack and the available underinsurance will be less or non-extistent. Here is how conversion works. Lets say that the tortfeasor and you have a 100/300 policy and your injury claim is worth $200,000. If you do not have conversion then since the policy limits are the same, there is only $100,000 in insurance for your injuries. If there is conversion, you will get the $100,000 from the tortfeasor and $100,000 from your own policy for a total of $200,000.
