In the last blog entry, we explained the importance of having bodily injury insurance. But how much bodily injury coverage should you buy? So that you understand what is at stake, if someone purchases a minimal $10,000.00 bodily injury policy and they injure someone who sues them and a jury awards $100,000.00, then the insurance company would pay $10,000.00 towards that judgment (as that is all the insurance that was purchased to pay a judgment) and the injured person would still have a $90,000.00 judgment against the owner/driver, which could result in collection remedies like wage or bank garnishments, etc. Thus, the decision of how much bodily injury insurance to purchase is very important. There are two main reasons to purchase bodily injury insurance: 1) moral – if you were to injure someone, it is nice to have insurance to pay them for their injuries to “right the wrong;” and 2) legal – if someone sues you, the bodily injury insurance pays the legal costs and pays a judgment up to your limits; thus, your assets are “protected” by having the insurance to pay for a mistake. The more money someone earns (protecting against wages), the more bodily injury insurance one generally should want. Similarly, the more “assets” like a home (although generally homes, if homestead, are not attachable), cars, boats, stocks, bonds, businesses that one has, the more insurance one would generally should want. To some degree, there is never enough insurance but if you would do an inventory of your assets and think about it from a moral perspective, one could come to a fair amount of insurance for your particular situation.
If you have been injured in an accident and another person or company may be at fault, please call Gary J. Drucker at 561-483-9199 or 954-755-2120, 305-981-1561, or 561-967-3840 for a free consultation. My principal office in Boca Raton and I have satellite offices in Miami, Coral Springs, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth and West Palm Beach. I only charge my clients fees and costs if I recovers money for them. I am here so you can know your rights. Please call the law firm to set an appointment today!
It is important to note that every case is unique and should be judged based on the specific facts of the case. Prior to purchasing any sort of insurance, you should speak to an insurance agent and/or your financial advisers to figure out an appropriate amount of insurance for your particular situation. The advice in this blog is intended to be general in nature and should not to be construed as specific advice for a case, as a minor difference in the facts of the case could change the result. Also, this blog is, as the web site suggests, based on Florida law and the laws of any other states or even another country could vary from Florida.
