THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT

Underinsured Motorist Coverage and Avoiding the Crash



Lexington Personal Injury | Kentucky Motor Vehicle Attorney |

Several years ago, a former client of Hurt, Crosbie and May contacted our office after his wife had been injured in a very serious car accident a few weeks earlier. When returning from the grocery store and traveling on a windy road in Garrard County, Kentucky, she encountered a speeding vehicle driving in her lane as she approached a difficult curve. She essentially had two choices: 1) She could veer the car off the roadway and over the side of an embankment and avoid a head-on collision; or, 2) she could hope to survive the inevitable impact of the oncoming vehicle. She chose the former.

When she steered her vehicle away from the incoming car and off the side of the road, her Toyota Camry immediately fishtailed in the wet grass. Unable to correct her steering due to the oncoming car, the Camry flipped several times and rolled down an embankment. When the car finally stopped moving, our client was unconscious and bleeding. A fence post had punctured through the steel exterior of the vehicle causing serious physical damages to her back and shoulder.

Fortunately, there was no impact with the speeding vehicle or known injuries to the driver. Incredibly, though, the driver immediately fled the scene providing no form of identification and offering no medical aid to our injured client.

As a result of the accident, our client survived, but had to undergo extensive medical treatment including a lengthy hospital stay and rehabilitation. On the day that she was released from the hospital and was allowed to return home, the mailbox was full of hospital and doctor bills that she could not afford to pay. Since the other driver could not be identified, no liability coverage was known. Certainly, she believed, her automobile insurance would cover her, but she needed an experienced attorney to evaluate the policies and seek answers. So they contacted our office and we met with her husband the following afternoon. He brought a copy of their insurance policy along with the police report which identified the other driver as being "unknown".

Our review of their insurance policy showed that they had maintained the "Cadillac" of insurance policies with limits far in excess of what are required under Kentucky law. They trusted their Lancaster, Kentucky insurance agent and truly believed that he had provided them all appropriate coverage including liability for bodily injury and property damage, personal injury protection and underinsured/uninsured coverage. We agreed with this assessment and assisted them in filing a claim under their personal injury protection policy as well as made a demand for policy limits on their uninsured coverage.

Within days, their insurance company responded to our claim for PIP coverage and the medical bills began to get paid. However, soon thereafter, the insurance company denied their claim for coverage under the uninsured portion of their policy. Specifically, the policy required that the insured party must either be impacted by the other vehicle or prove that the other driver "ran her off the road." Like our client, our team of lawyers at Hurt, Crosbie and May immediately began researching Kentucky law on this issue. We searched the various insurance articles, law journals and Kentucky case law in a concerted effort to challenge this interpretation of the policy. We even communicated with some of our knowledgeable experts who work regularly in the insurance field.

Ultimately, we determined that our client's insurance company was correct in their interpretation of their policy. As a result of a 2006 Kentucky Supreme Court decision in Dowell v. Safe Auto Insurance Company, unless your insurance policy specifically provides for coverage, most Kentuckians are not covered in "hit-and-run accidents" under the uninsured coverage provisions of their policy. This was the case for our client.

Hence, this is an important reminder to all of us when obtaining automobile coverage. We must be deliberate in asking about this type of coverage when talking with our agent so that we do not find ourselves in the same position as our unknowing client.




Hurt, Crosbie & May serves clients in Kentucky, including the following areas:
Cities: Lexington, Nicholasville, Georgetown, Richmond, Winchester, Louisville, Frankfort, Lawrenceburg, Cynthiana, Mt. Sterling, Versailles, Paris, Stanton, Harrodsburg, Clay City, Wilmore, Berea.

Counties: Fayette, Jessamine, Scott, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Woodford, Shelby, Anderson, Clark, Mercer, Powell, Garrard, Bourbon, Montgomery, Spencer, Estill.

contact us
Name:

Phone:

Email:

Describe Your Case:
toll free
866. 239 .0039

127 West Main Street, Lexington, KY, 40507

©2012 Hurt, Crosbie & May PLLC, All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission Privacy Policy
Attorney web design by Foster Web Marketing, the best attorney website design solution on the Web offering search engine optimization for attorneys, lawyer website design, video for attorneys, and more.
Get SEO Tips from The Attorney Internet Marketing Blog