What Are Six Common Auto Insurance Mistakes?

After a car accident, you may assume that your insurance company has your back and will provide the compensation that you or a loved one will need to recover. Unfortunately, this is often not the case because insurance companies are primarily concerned with making a profit. It is a common mistake to blindly rely on insurance providers after a car crash. However, there are other auto insurance mistakes that include:

1. Lacking UM/UIM coverage: Uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) coverage can help pay your medical bills and other crash-related expenses after being hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist. Without this coverage, you may not receive what you need to recover physically and financially from the crash.
2. Neglecting PIP coverage: Personal injury protection (PIP) coverage can help pay for medical and rehabilitation expenses after a crash. It can also help cover funeral costs and some lost income. In Texas, insurers are required to offer PIP coverage to policyholders. However, you can reject PIP coverage in writing. Insurance companies may promise you lower payments if you forgo this coverage. You should always ensure that your policy has PIP coverage.
3. Not knowing who is covered: You should know who is covered by your insurance policy. If you live in a family where multiple people are using the same vehicle, then you should know whether they are considered permissive drivers by your policy. This is just one example of why you should know who is covered.
4. Buying the bare minimum: In Texas, the minimum liability limit for an auto insurance policy is $30,000 for each injured person. You should never buy a policy with the bare minimum in coverage. Catastrophic injuries from car accidents, such as a spinal cord injury, could incur millions of dollars in expenses depending on the severity.
5. Using your vehicle for commercial purposes: Many insurance policies have a clause that prevents you from using your vehicle for commercial purposes. If you are using your vehicle for commercial purposes and get into a wreck, you may not be covered.
6. Choosing Med Pay over PIP Med Pay coverage has certain weaknesses that could end up costing you after an accident. If your policy has Med Pay coverage, then hospital bills would be covered after an accident. However, Med Pay does not cover lost income from your injuries or hospitalization. It is also subject to subrogation, meaning that whatever Med Pay covers could be taken out of your eventual settlement.

Can A Car Accident Attorney Help Me Avoid Auto Insurance Mistakes?

These are mistakes that you could be at risk of making with your own insurance provider. However, there are also mistakes that you could make after a car accident with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Talking with an insurance adjuster from the at-fault driver’s insurance provider could be a huge mistake. If an adjuster does call you after an accident, they will likely ask for your permission to record the phone call. Whatever you say to that adjuster could be used against you at a later date to reduce compensation from your settlement.You should hire an attorney after an accident to facilitate communication with insurance adjusters working for your and the at-fault driver’s providers. The attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC can also review the details of your insurance policy and could help protect your interests after a car accident.

How Do I Check for Motor Vehicle Defects?

Millions of vehicles are recalled in the US each year for defects that may cause catastrophic injuries and deaths. For example, General Motors’ (GM) faulty ignition switch may be responsible for an estimated 124 deaths and 274 injuries. Vehicles with this defect could lose power while they were being driven. As a result, the airbags, power steering and other necessary features no longer worked. GM’s ignition switch is only one example of how motor vehicle defects can contribute to horrific injuries or wrongful death. It is important to stay on top of recall notices so you and your family can stay safe.Before explaining how to use popular tools to check for vehicle defects, it is important to emphasize that automakers do not always issue a recall once defects have been found. For example, GM engineers detected the ignition switch defect in 2004, but only issued a recall in 2014. Keep this in mind as you read today’s blog.If your automaker is abiding by federal laws, then it will issue a recall once it determines the presence of a defect. The two most popular tools to check for recalls are SaferCar.gov and the myCARFAX app:

1. SaferCar.gov: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) operates SaferCar.gov, a website that allows you to check for unfixed recalls. To use the website, grab your vehicle identification number (also called the VIN). You can locate this number by looking on the driver’s side dashboard. It may also be on your car insurance policy card. Once you have the number, plug it into NHTSA’s VIN search tool. However, keep in mind that NHTSA’s tool may not show very recent recalls. The tool will also only cover unfixed recalls during the last 15 years. In addition, the tool will not show information on foreign vehicles.
2. Use the myCARFAX app: You could use the myCARFAX app (Android and iOS) to check if your vehicle is under recall. In addition, this CARFAX will also let you know your vehicle’s repair history. However, like NHTSA’s website, you will also need to pull your VIN to receive this information. The myCARFAX app will also send recall notices to your phone.

What Can I Do with a Recalled Vehicle?

Depending on the circumstances, your vehicle may be recalled by NHTSA or the manufacturer. If your vehicle is under recall, then you can receive free repairs from your local dealership. However, keep in mind that it may be simply too dangerous to drive your vehicle. For example, NHTSA has warned 2001-2003 Honda Civic and Acura vehicle owners not to drive their cars – even to the dealership for repairs. In these cases, see if the dealership will tow your vehicle to be fixed.Unfortunately, repairs may not be completed right away. If the repairs are scheduled to take more than one day, then you could ask your dealership for a loaner vehicle.Depending on the circumstances, you could also file a lawsuit if you or a loved one were harmed by a vehicle defect. In this case, a Texas defective product attorney at Mike Love & Associates, LLC could help you determine your eligibility for filing a lawsuit.

Do I Have to Pay for an Accident That Wasn't My Fault?

You would assume after an accident that was the fault of another driver, that all your damages would be covered, either by their insurance company or your own. Most of the time this is the case. However, some drivers may still find themselves having to pay for damages to their vehicles or their bodies with their own pocketbooks, even if the accident was not their fault. How can this be? Keep reading to find out.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

In Texas, drivers are not required to carry Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage by law. UM insurance ensures your insurance company will cover damages in the event you are hit by a driver without insurance. A 2012 study done by the Insurance Research Council, concluded that 12.6 percent of drivers on the road in the US are uninsured. UIM insurance covers drivers who are hit by a driver whose insurance plan doesn’t offer enough money for the damage they caused in an accident.

How Does UM/UIM Coverage Work?

With UM/UIM insurance coverage, your insurance company is responsible for paying the damages you incurred from the uninsured/underinsured driver. In the case of UM/UIM accident, your insurance company steps in as the party responsible for the damages to your vehicle and medical expenses. Texas is an “at fault” state, which means the driver that is more at fault will have to pay the damages. Your insurance provider becomes the “at fault” party when you are hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver. Your insurance company will likely try to offer the least amount of coverage possible, and often will try to refute that the accident was the other driver’s fault or try to deny you the full amount of coverage owed by your contract. These situations call for a car accident attorney.

Were You Offered UM/UIM Coverage?

Texas law requires insurance companies to provide you the option to get UM/UIM coverage. However, insurance companies have been known to break the law to offer insurance rates lower payments for competitive reasons. You may be able to make a legal case against the insurance company if they did not offer it to you.You should not have to pay for damages to your vehicle or your body in an auto accident that is not your fault. If your insurance company is trying to work against you, or saying your plan doesn’t include UM/UIM coverage, contacting an experienced Lufkin car accident lawyer can help get your insurance company into gear.

What If I Was Injured by a Product That Didn't Have a Warning Label?

Product manufacturers creating products that have the potential to cause harm or serious injury are under obligation to make sure consumers are aware of these safety risks. Instructions that do not demonstrate how to use a product safely, or don’t address potential safety hazards associated with the product may be illegal. These defects are known as marketing defects. Another type of defect is a design defect, which happens when the manufacturer makes a dangerous product that is hazardous even when used properly. The third kind is a manufacturing defect, which happens when a manufacturer makes an error creating the product, causing a hazard that was not included in the product design.

What Are Some Common Defective Products?

• Auto components: vehicle ignition systems, fuel systems, accelerators, airbags, seatbelts, tires, brakes, and child seats are common recalled items.
• Children’s toys: Toys often have choking hazards, or other safety risks associated with use.
• Furniture: Ikea has recently recalled millions of dresser cabinets because of the risk they pose of falling on children and injuring them.
• Over the counter drugs: Prescription medications and other health products are subject to common recalls.

How Can You Be Notified of Product Recalls?

If a manufacturer finds out about a safety hazard involving their product, they are required to submit that information to a government agency responsible for consumer safety in their industry. The manufacturer or government agency then must make a campaign to notify as many consumers of the product that they can. They do this through posting on their website, sending letters, media coverage, or electronic notifications like emails. Due to the scope of products that are sold and re-sold, all users of the recalled product will likely not be able to receive notification.A product can be unsafe for several reasons. A product can be inherently unsafe and lack safety instructions, contain a manufacturing defect that causes hazards, or has instructions that do not detail proper safe usage of a product. In the event of a product liability case, having a Lufkin product safety attorney can help you stand up against huge manufacturing corporations. Many recalls are not formed about until a consumer files a complaint, and a product manufacturer will often try to offer the minimum amount of coverage for the damages they caused.Lufkin personal injury attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC are dedicated to fight for the best coverage in unsafe product damage cases.

Why Are Midsize SUV Headlights Failing Safety Tests?

Recent studies, completed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, suggest that many midsize SUV’s headlights are lacking in quality and safety. Headlights are critical to road safety, and factors such as how much visibility is created by the headlights, and how much glare is caused by the headlights were tested. The majority of vehicles were found to produce too much glare for sufficient night driving safety. Car manufacturers are responsible for providing safe products. Crashes are much more likely to happen at night, even though there is much less traffic on the road.

Safety Tips for Driving at Night

• Vision correction: Human vision is much worse at night. Make sure you have correctional lenses on if you do not have perfect vision. Anti-glare lenses can help increase vision quality and safety while driving at night.
• Stay awake: Driver fatigue is a huge contributor to road accidents. Make sure you are awake and alert, an if you start to feel sleepy, pull over to a nearby resting area to sleep.
• Clean your windshield: Dust and grime can accumulate on your windshield and refract light coming from other vehicles, clouding your vision and increasing the risk for an accident.
• Dim your dashboard lights: Limiting the amount of light entering your eyes from inside the vehicle will increase your vision capacity outside of your car.

These are some great tips to keep you safe, but some accidents are caused by the negligence of car manufacturers. In the SUV case mentioned above, there were no recalls issued, but if a product is too unsafe, a liability case can form.

When Is an Accident a Car Manufacturers Fault?

• Defective products: Faulty products cause accidents in many ways. Faulty tires that blow out, dangerous exploding airbags, and failing brake systems are examples. Car components have a strict set of safety standards they need to adhere to for legal reasons. A product liability attorney has the resources to investigate if your vehicle meets those specific standards.
• Failure to warn drivers: In the event of an auto recall, the manufacturer needs to notify drivers by mail within 60 days the recall is issued with options for remedying the issue. You can check for existing safety recalls on safecar.gov.

If you suspect that an auto accident happened due to a defective component in your vehicle, a Lufkin auto accident attorney at Mike Love & Associates, LLC is dedicated to investigating your case for breaches in auto safety laws.