Liability coverage is purchased to protect you if you get sued because of a car accident that you caused. This is perhaps the most important insurance you will buy, not only because it will prevent you from going bankrupt, but also because it is part of your responsibility as a driver of a what can be an instrument of destruction, a motor vehicle. How much insurance is enough? As much as you can afford, and get your insurance agent to quote you the difference to buy higher policies. And the amount of liability insurance you purchase is doubly important because it dictates the maxium amount of uninsured and underinsured coverage you can buy.
$100/300,000 policies are absolutely not enough and any policy which provides a split coverage, provides an illusion of more coverage than you actually get. A $100/300,000 policy only provides $100,000 available to settle any one persons injuries. $100,000 is about what the medical bills would be for one weeks hospitalization in a serious accident. Even accidents where people walk away from the wreck, often have values above $100,000. If a younger person suffers a neck or back injury which prevents them from returning to their current employment, the damages will almost always exceed $100,000. If a 20 year old person’s income is reduced even $2 an hour as a result of injuries, the loss of earning capacity over such person’s life will exceed $100,000. Damages in motor vehicle accident cases also include physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, the loss of enjoyment of life’s activities and any permanent partial impairment or disability resulting from the injury sustained.
Minimun liability limits in Connecticut are $20,000 per person, $40,000 per event.? The minimum coverage is grossly inadequate.? It fails to protect your assets in the the event that you negligently cause an accident which results in personal injuries to another.? It also fails to cover you for injuries you have suffered from an uninsured or underinsured driver.
It is our recommendation that you?purchase a single limit $500,000 liability coverage and to also explore getting a $1,000,000 umbrella policy.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage. Connecticut law requires everyone to have insurance, the legislature has mandated that every insurance policy which is sold in Connecticut include protection against accidents caused by uninsured motorists. Such coverage is called “uninsured motorist coverage”. Connecticut law mandates that such insurance must be equal to the amount of liability coverage (a minimum of 20/40,000), however you can purchase up to two times the liability coverage. This coverage is extremely important because it protects you against being damaged, by what are often the worst drivers on the road, including many drivers who don’t have insurance because there driving licenses have been revoked or suspended.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage. Even more important than “uninsured motorist coverage” is underinsured motorist coverage. Where uninsured, protects you from the driver who doesn’t have any insurance, underinsured protects you from someone who doesn’t have enough.
We recommend that you purchase a single limit $500,000 of both uninsured and underinsured coverage and to also explore getting a $1,000,000 of both on an umbrella policy.
Adequate auto insurance coverage is vital.? We have seen far too many personal injury?cases where a seriously injured person is under compensated because there is a lack of available insurance coverage.?
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