Fairfax Injury Attorney on Vehicular Death & Insurance

(Newswire.net — August 3, 2015) Vienna, VA —

While there is no true compensation for the loss of a loved one, adequate insurance plans may help alleviate the financial loss associated with an accidental death, suggests Fairfax personal injury attorney Paul Samakow.

David, a young man at age 26, was an adored son, brother, and soon-to-be husband. Being a mechanic by profession, David had made his reputation amongst the locals and brought good business to his employer. His girlfriend soon expected a proposal from him as they’d been dating for quite a while now. Then one particular evening on his return from a party, David and his friends got into an accident. A man lost control of his car and had hit their mini bus causing a number of causalities. A friend of David’s had even lapsed into coma. But to David’s family’s demise, David was killed instantly.

Financial reimbursement can never be true compensation for David’s death, as loss of human life has no price. While most people would naturally push for for a long prison term for the driver at fault, the law would judge the matter considering all circumstances. Vehicular manslaughter caused by driving under the influence, driving recklessly, and excessive speeding are considered a felony, but through simple negligence, or loss of focus and concentration while driving can be considered a minor crime (a misdemeanor). This really was just an accident, and the jury passed a ruling accordingly. After the apologies and condolences from the driver to the family, all that was left to offer was financial compensation, which comes from available insurance coverage.

Although, no sum of money can replace a loved one, most survivors ultimately seek monetary compensation. They tend to use it to create a charity or for causes their family member supported. Hence, they tend to seek them maximum amount of compensation possible.

The first insurance policy that provides coverage in such a scenario is that of the driver’s that caused the accident. The driver in this case had “minimum limits” coverage from his policy provider. This is usually $30K or less in most states. When a driver is at fault, the policy provider has to pay only to the threshold the policy actually covered, regardless of the damages or even deaths due to the accident.

A dollar value can never be put on a human, but juries in US courts often must place a monetary value on someone who is deceased. Although $30K could never compensate for something like this, it is the maximum the policy provider would have to shell out regardless of the amount awarded by the jury.

The question arises here of “can the injured party pursue the driver that caused the accident in court?” Yes, he or she may but usually this doesn’t result in a prolific outcome, as people who buy minimum auto-insurance have no assets or funds that can be used to compensate the other party. They just purchase the bare minimum policy necessary to get by and be abe to drive on the road.

An Under Insured Motorist (UIM) policy is an option that could deal with the problem mentioned above, and is coverage purchased by the party that is not at fault. Uninsured Motorist (UM) protection is usually already a part of automobile coverage and is an additional solution to situations when a driver that is at fault doesn’t have any coverage at all.

It’s advisable that one should avail the opportunity for high limits when possible. Unfortunately the mini-bus operator only had bare minimum insurance as well. If they had a higher UIM policy, David’s family would have received additional compensation. Such financial tragedy can be potentially avoided by having higher limits, which doesn’t cost much extra, on your insurance policies to protect yourself and your loved-ones.

(Newswire.net — August 3, 2015) Fairfax, VA —