Car accidents can cause large amounts of damage. With high speeds and thousands of pounds of force involved, the human body is extremely vulnerable to injury. Serious injuries can occur that require emergency care, surgery, therapy, rehabilitative care, counselling, vocational rehabilitation, or specialized doctor visits. In the most tragic accidents, deaths occur.
Minimum Insurance Limits Are Often Insufficient
There are many vehicle collisions that cause damage that exceeds insurance policy limits. In Washington State, the law only requires drivers to have $25,000 of liability insurance and many drivers only buy this minimum amount of coverage.
Many people do not realize how quickly medical care, lost wages, and other damages can add up. This saddles victims with the difficult task of acquiring the compensation needed to cover damages that are above the policy limits.
Unfortunately, there are also too many accidents involving uninsured drivers. This includes accidents where drivers do not pay for insurance, have allowed their insurance to lapse, or hit-and-run accidents where the at fault driver cannot be identified.
For these types of situations, it is very important to have Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist insurance coverage. In common parlance, this type of coverage is abbreviated as “UM” or “UIM”.
Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Claims
While insurance policies vary between companies, many companies offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. With this coverage, you can make a claim on your own policy to get compensation for damages exceeding the faulty driver’s coverage.
Many people think that since they are paying their insurance company a lot of money for their policy, that their company will help them pay for all their damages from an accident. However, this is not typically the case.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims can be complicated. Many people may not even know they have the coverage or how to make a UIM claim. There are also circumstances when UIM coverage may come from another policy, such as a bicycle or pedestrian accident or if you are a passenger in a vehicle.
UM Lawyers – On Your Side
At Bishop Legal, we do not back down to powerful insurance companies. We fight for our seriously injured clients. We work to get the compensation clients deserve for their injuries and damages.
Our lawyers thoroughly investigate cases to find the facts and evidence needed to prove a case. We do not fear lowballing insurance companies because we have the experience, knowledge, and proven record at trial to get them to pay the maximum possible for an injury claim.
Personal Injury Experts
Our lawyers can also identify when personal injury protection coverage applies. This is abbreviated as “PIP”. This coverage pays for medical bills and a portion of lost wages and other expenses regardless of fault, up to the limits of the policy. In Washington, insurers must offer this coverage to their insured.
Contact Us
Our law firm represents the seriously injured in uninsured and underinsured motorist claims. We believe our clients need to be fully compensated for their damages and we do everything possible to make this happen. We offer free case evaluations and will not charge any fees unless we win the case.
