How To Protect You and Your Family With the Best Automobile Insurance Policy

0:10 Hey everyone, this is Attorney Adam Smallow from MD Accident Law in Maryland and today we’re going to talk about how to protect you and your family with the best automobile insurance coverage in the event of a car crash and having a maximum policy in case you’re injured. 0:24 So one of the most frustrating day-to-day conversations we have with our clients is informing them that they’re just simply not enough insurance coverage to get them a reasonable settlement based on their injuries and the impact that the collisions had on their lives. 0:36 And a lot of times the response is, well, the person who caused the accident in English and party, they’re responsible for compensating me and they’re right. 0:43 But if you ended the day, there has to be insurance coverage. And many times, people are causing accidents and they don’t have insurance or they have minimal insurance. 0:51 So often, our clients insurance companies could kick in at some point to help them get compensation. And the two most common ways that will happen is through one, uninsured motor scoverage or what’s called UM coverage, and two, underinsured motor scoverage, or UIM coverage. 1:10 And here’s how the two work. UM or uninsured motor scoverage is when somebody hits you, causes an accident and is negligent, and they take off a hit and run, or they stop and they’re insurance lapsed and yesterday, a month before, or they didn’t have permission to drive the vehicle. 1:23 So there’s several scenarios where they cause the accident, but there’s absolutely no insurance in that vehicle. So what happens is it falls back on your insurance company to open what’s called at U.M. 1:34 or on insured motors claim and basically your insurance company is stepping into the shoes that idiot who didn’t have insurance or hitching it took off and that’s how you sell your claim or sometimes go to court. 1:43 The second type of coverage is similar but different. It’s got under insured motors coverage or UIM and that’s when the person that hitches has coverage but just not enough. 1:53 The injury is too significant. The impact it’s having in your life is just greater than their policy and what you do is you have you settle with that person’s insurance company and they’re small coverage and then you move on to your insurance company and they kind of fill in the gap and provide more 2:07 compensation to make a hole again and that’s called UIM or Under-insured Motors coverage. Generally in most states they add minimum coverage not all states and the minimum coverage of insurance coverage in Maryland is what’s called 30, 60, 30,000 per person, 60,000 total sets and minimum someone has 2:24 to carry if they have insurance. So, what should you be carrying? Now that you know that you may be on the hook for UM claim with your own insurance company if there’s no insurance or you may have to dip into your insurance company if you have to make a UIM claim, I would advise at least $100,000 but 2:41 really more pragmatically $250,000 or more. The insurance Companies are relying on your lack of knowledge and they’re relying on the fact that you probably don’t even know how cheap insurance coverage can be. 2:54 So it is not expensive to go from minimum 30 limits to 100 or 250, but you have to ask an insurance company’s again or counting on apathy. 3:03 Another aspect to your insurance coverage that will always be on your policy will be first party medical benefits. That’s called PIP or med pay. 3:13 Every state’s got their own lingo. Maryland has PIP and med pay but PIP is the most common. Maryland is one of the few states where it’s wavable. 3:20 It doesn’t cost much to get it. But if you do have PIP, you’re likely at one or two levels. The minimum $2,500 or $5,000 which is to step up. 3:29 Some insurance companies like Eerie and Maryland, for example, offer up to $10,000 in PIP covers. What’s that mean? You’re in an accident. 3:35 You’re fault. Not your fault. You’re injured. you automatically get this coverage and it pays your medical bills, it can also pay some of your lost wages. 3:43 So that’s what PIP’s about. Some insurance companies in Maryland, not all, a few are eerie and USA, for example, a couple other insurance companies have additional medical payment coverage called MedPay. 3:53 And that’s another thing you pay for. So you can’t have both. MedPay’s not so common in Maryland and that goes directly to pay medical bills, almost dollar for dollar, typically. 4:02 But you have PIP in MedPay, but typically you see more PIP in Maryland. So that’s how your insurance policy fits into play, protecting yourself with maximum coverage, having the highest medical benefits possible, not waving PIP. 4:15 And that’s how you get a great result when the other insurance driver is not properly insured, or does not have enough insurance coverage in the event of a car crash. 4:25 So that’s how it works, guys. I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions at all at anything about how insurance police work in Maryland. 4:32 Don’t hesitate to reach out to our law firm. Law offices of Adam and Smallow at 410-777-789-60. We can be, you can email us at HURP at MD Accent Law. 4:43 You can Google Adam Smallow online and find us, but we will always give you free consultations. Not just about a potential case, but also about your insurance coverage. 4:52 So I appreciate you watching. If you guys have had any experiences with the UN, the UIM, under-insured situations, protecting yourself first-party medical benefits. 5:01 Please leave a comment below. Please check us out on YouTube. We have more videos where we kind of pull the curtain back on the personal injury in Maryland and try to give you the real scoop on what’s happening when you’re involved in an accident. 5:14 Thank you so much.