I must admit, I though most insurance polices were similar. You know, if you carry liability coverage, you basically carry the same coverage that I do, except that you have different limits and/or deductibles.
I was wrong. I took several polices and compared the “same coverages”. I came to the conclusion that the coverages are simply [...]
Yeah, insurance companies will try to fix your car with use parts. They will call it something different. They will probably call it OEM or After market Parts. They are technically not “used” parts; they are just not manufacture by the original maker of the car. Instead they are manufacture by other factories in other [...]
What is a first party claim? It is simply a claim that you make against your own insurance company. You could make a claim against the person that hit you, that would be a third party claim.
Shortly after you are in a car accident and make a claim, you will see that these concepts will [...]
This quest is often emailed to us. The question reveals the confusion of the public out there. If you try to read the insurance policy you are going to see that it is not very straight forward.
Collision will cover your car subject to a deductible (the portion you have to pay). So if the damages [...]
This is perhaps the most common mistakes out there. You do want to lower your premiums, but you want to make sure you are getting something for what you actually paid. Person Injury protection (PIP)is usually quoted together with the liability coverage. Most states require liability coverage, so insurance companies package them together. Other states [...]
If you do not carry rental coverage on your insurance policy, you can be up for surprises. Say someone hits you. You have done nothing wrong and in no way you can be found at fault. In fact, let’s say that your car was legally parked and unoccupied.
The careless driver just hits your car, breaking [...]
Should insurance pay for punitive damages? Many say that they should. But in reality we believe that insurance polices should afford any coverage for punitive damages. Punitive damages are those damages that a court awards to punish or to deter that conduct.
In our endeavors when looking at car accidents, we are looking at those cases [...]
Most of the time they will, however how much they will go up should be the better question. Insurance companies are in the business of risk. They know that if you are more inattentive than other drivers, they will use that to raise your premium.
They often look at the nature of your claim. If you [...]
Do you have a question? Do not want to hire an attorney to give you answer? And the insurance company is giving you the run around?
We had several inquiries via email per day! We realized that we needed to open the forum to questions. We are writing this site as fast as possible, but it [...]
The duty of good faith and fair dealing applies to all insurance companies and in the United States. They have duties codified in every state statutes. All states are very similar since these duty arises the same place, the second restatement of contracts.
There are duties that insurance companies must fulfill when dealing with the public. [...]
Mitigation of damages is a concept that is used in both Tort and Contact Law. This concept explains when there is a loss (either a tort or a contract breached), the party that has been wronged will have an affirmative duty to do whatever they can do avoid even a bigger loss.
For example, if Mr. [...]
Canceling coverage is one of those issues where insurance companies differ. If you do not pay your bill, cancellation of coverage is eminent. That is clear. But once you have a claim, then the insurance company will play a different game.
Insurance carrier cannot cancel coverage and tell that that the claim will not be covered. [...]
You have an affirmative duty to help your insurance company. There are clauses in your policy that requires you to help your carrier handle the claim and help to recuperate any monies that they paid.
This duty to cooperate is important because insurance carriers could claim that since you did not follow the terms of they [...]
Once your insurance company pays for damages caused to your car then what? Does the insurance company just write it off as a loss? If the person that hit you has no insurance, then the insurance company has a difficult road ahead to recover for the monies paid.
Subrogation of Rights clauses in your policy allow [...]
Your Policy Declarations page is the very first page in your insurance policy that will contain all the information that will control every transaction between you and your insurance company. This page is the most critical piece of the entire policy. If there is a mistake in this page, the insurance company can deny coverage.
Why [...]
