If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident that was someone else’s fault, you are entitled to file a claim with that person’s insurance company for compensation. One of the first things you need to know, however, is how much insurance is available for your personal injury claim, as knowing this information can help determine an acceptable settlement amount. An experienced Atlanta car accident lawyer at John Foy & Associates can help you determine the policy limits of the liable party’s insurance and file a claim to help you recover your damages.
Understanding Motor Vehicle Insurance Policy Limits in Georgia
Motor vehicle owners in Georgia are required to have liability insurance on their registered vehicles. Failure to maintain continuous liability insurance coverage can lead to the owner’s vehicle registration being suspended. Drivers who operate a motor vehicle with a suspended registration can be imprisoned and fined.
Georgia law also requires liability insurance coverage to have minimum limits. At a minimum, drivers are required to have bodily injury liability and property damage liability. The minimum limits for these coverages are as follows:
- $25,000 per person in bodily injury liability
- $50,000 per incident in bodily injury liability
- $25,000 per incident in property damage liability
It is recommended that drivers purchase more coverage than required, including comprehensive and collision physical damage insurance and uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Liability insurance is what helps at-fault drivers pay damages to individuals who are injured in an accident. Our knowledgeable Georgia car accident attorneys at John Foy & Associates can help you understand what motor vehicle insurance you need and what insurance may be applicable for paying for the damages from your car accident.
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Georgia’s Laws Pertaining to the Disclosure of Insurance Policy Limits
Some states do not require insurers to disclose their insured’s policy limits to personal injury claimants. Fortunately, Georgia is not one of those states. According to Georgia law, insurers who are liable for paying at least part of your personal injury claim are required to disclose the policy limits to you, as the claimant, within 60 days of receiving your written request.
As a personal injury claimant who was injured as a result of an insured’s negligence, you are entitled to certain information from the insurance company. Under O.C.G.A. § 33-3-28(a)(1), insurers must provide you with certain information, including the name of the insurer, the name of each insured, and the policy’s coverage limits. In lieu of providing this information, the insurance company can provide you with a copy of the insured’s declaration page that contains this information.
Insurance companies can be tricky to deal with. Their main goal is to pay out as little money as possible to personal injury victims, and they will use numerous tactics to do so. As such, it is in your best interest to have a car accident attorney in Georgia help you request information from, and correspond with, the insurance company regarding your car accident.
How to Find Out the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Policy Limits
To find out the liable driver’s insurance policy limits after a car accident, you need to send the insurance company a letter requesting this information. According to Georgia law, that letter must be mailed via certified mail or statutory overnight delivery. Then, the insurance company has 60 days to provide you with the requested policy information.
In some instances, you may not know which insurance company covers the at-fault driver. In such a case, you can send a letter to the responsible party instead, requesting that they disclose their insurance company’s information. To get the negligent driver’s contact information, you should look at your accident report.
After you send your request to the responsible driver, they have 30 days to provide you with the information you requested. If you do not receive a response from the driver, you may need to go ahead and file a lawsuit against them. Once a lawsuit is filed, your car accident lawyer can send a formal request for the driver’s insurance information through the discovery process.
How Policy Limits May Affect Wrongful Death Compensation
According to the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, there were nearly 1,800 fatalities in traffic accidents in 2021. If you have lost a loved one in a Georgia car accident, it may be necessary to file a wrongful death claim. Compensation in a wrongful death claim may be affected by the negligent driver’s insurance policy limits.
Learning that the responsible driver did not have adequate coverage to alleviate the financial burdens you are facing after the loss of your beloved family member can be devastating. In such an instance, you may need to attempt to collect additional damages from the at-fault driver’s personal assets. Obtaining a judgment against the driver’s assets may help you recover additional compensation.
Another way to potentially collect additional compensation to help with your financial hardship after losing a loved one in a motor vehicle accident is by filing a claim with their own insurance company. If your family member had uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, their insurance company could pay out those policy limits as well. Contact a Georgia car accident lawyer to help you file an underinsured motorist claim with your loved one’s insurance company.
How an Atlanta Car Accident Lawyer Can Help You
Knowing how much insurance coverage a negligent driver has can help your car accident lawyer in Georgia negotiate a reasonable settlement. For this reason, it is important to know how to request this information and how long the insurance company has to respond. Our car accident and wrongful death lawyers at John Foy & Associates are familiar with the personal injury claims process and how to communicate with insurers.
You should not fight the insurance company alone after your motor vehicle accident. You are likely already faced with surmounting physical and financial hurdles. Contact our skilled car accident attorneys at John Foy & Associates today for a confidential and free consultation to determine how to file a legal claim to get you maximum compensation for your accident injuries.
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