Auto Insurance

Can 2 different people on the same car, be separately insured?

Sometimes it happens that you and your friend drive by on the same car and you meet with an accident. In such cases, having a double insurance can results in two ways; either each insurance company would be paying half of the amount of reimbursement or both of the insurance companies have not to pay anything. In order to avoid the problems, majority of the states of American do not permit double insurance. However, it is actually possible for the 2 different people on the same car, having separate insurance. But this could definitely result into problems, confusions or the invalidation of insurance policies.

Double Insurance! How that can be possible?
Double insurance happens simply when two different people owning the same car, buy the insurance policy from two different companies. Let us take an example. Suppose a family owning a car gets the insurance for its entire family members, under the same insurance company (as it normally should be). But suddenly, one of the family members decides to switch his insurance to some other company. This would result into the car having people insured under different companies.

Another kind of double insurance happens when an insured car is rented by some other person who is having insurance with other company separate from the insurance company of car owner. Such situations happen frequently but the worst thing in such situation is that when the final need of insurance arises, it becomes quite difficult for people to get hold of the insurance companies to cover the expenses because it will mostly seem to be like unjust enrichment.

Deal with Double Insurance in the best way:
Although lots of conflicts occur with the double insurance, but there is no law that can prohibit it. Such conflicts majorly occur on breaking the insurance company’s policies and not the law. Moreover, gathering two insurance companies for the reimbursement of an accident can be considered as the insurance fraud, unless both the insurance companies agree to make half payment each.

The best way to deal with double insurance is not to risk by breaking the insurance company policies. You should stay honest with your situation and show them that the double insurance of your car was not deliberate. So it is best to simply avoid the double insurance of your car. You can consult with you family members about this and avoid the double insurance. Get the insurance policy of only one company, for your whole family, as much as possible. It is good to sit down with you family members and discuss about their insurance requirements, before getting into anything. This will help you in preventing unnecessary switching of the insurers and having no incorrect plans. Bottom line is that “Take decision wisely and avoid double insurance”.

Considering that other car doesn’t have insurance, whose auto insurance would cover?

Lots of accidents occur wherein the other car has no insurance and you will be left with a question that who’s auto insurance will have to cover then? If you have bought PD (Property Damage Liability) Insurance or (BI) Bodily Injury Insurance then those insurance will help you to cover the damages and all in case the other car is not having insurance. If you do not have these, then as part of your package of auto insurance, your auto insurance will be covering only yourself and even the passengers in your like your family members and you car will also be covered. However, the property damage liability and bodily injury liability will not be able to cover you, your family or your property. However, they can surely provide you financial protection and support. These insurances will also provide you the support through legal defences if the other party records a lawsuit against you.

Let’s understand the meaning of BI & PD Insurance Policies:
Bodily Injury Liability:
BI is majorly helpful to cover the other party’s fatalities and/or the bodily injuries. It is highly recommended and best to buy the bodily injury liability insurance which is similar to having coverage for you and your family. This will also help you to stay financially strong and will provide you financial support when you are held responsible for the other person’s death or bodily injuries.

Property Damage Liability:
PD Liability Insurance is of a different kind which is helpful to cover the damages caused to the other party’s property. As the BI Insurance covers only the bodily injuries of the person, similarly PD Insurance covers only the property damages caused to the other person. Other properties beyond the car damage are also covered under PD. For example: In an accident if any damage is caused to the other party’s garden or any other property that the other party owns, then this insurance will still cover all these. So having this insurance policy would be beneficial in addition to having the BI insurance.

This type of insurance coverage is necessary for all the United States drivers. Driving a vehicle without these insurance safeties would be similar to going for war unarmed or going for grocery shopping without any money in the pockets. An accident is always uncertain and can happen at any time. So staying prepared at all the time is very much necessary.

In the case of “Hit and Run” Kentucky, who stands to be the responsible person?

The laws for the cases of “Hit and Run” always differ from situation to situation. But normally, these laws oblige the driver of a vehicle in an accident with another vehicle driver, human being or belongings the bring the situation to a halt and coerce fully present the personal details, license number and all other information of the injured person, law representative or onlooker. If the case of accident results in just the property damage and caused no damage to any individual or no individual is present, the driver can be given permission to just leave a note on the vehicle or can handover the police details.

The complete responsibility stands on the head of the driver or the owner of the vehicle that is being driven for all the damages caused provided that it was a “hit and run” kind of accident and there is always an assumption that there will be no insurance coverage on the part of vehicle driver. But in case you can submit the Full Insurance Coverage then your policy may be able to cover up the loss but still, it is advisable to have the police report.

As per the laws of “Kentucky”, the rules having concern with “hit & run”, kind of drivers cannot be considered liable for the felony charge just due to the fact that those drivers run off the fatal scene at the accident.

After the occurrence of any accident concerning the body injuries, vehicles drivers normally have the lawful duty to provide all the necessary first aid and help to the injured person and take sensible steps in providing proper cure or arranging the hospitality for the person. The vehicle driver is also responsible to call up for support from medical service providers and also do the proper reporting of the accident to the police enforcement of that local area. As the final resort if the vehicle driver or operator fails to obey and fulfil the liable obligations after getting engaged in an accident then he or she must obtain the traffic tag. In any accident, especially in the cases when there is a cause of injury or death, the driver that runs away at the time of the accident will be held liable for the criminal charges which is commonly known as “felony hit and run”

If you were Drunk Driving and meet with an accident, Will Insurance Pay?

Drinking while driving is considered as a serious criminal offense in the complete United States Of America and lots of other countries. Drink Driving is being regulated by the individual state laws. As per the reports of NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), in 2006 nearly 17,941 road accidents occurred in USA that was linked with drunk driving.

In order to cover the financial burdens that may occur to the drivers, they should apply for Driving under influence insurance policy. DUI insurance policy is useful for drivers and keeps them safe from suffering in the car accident events. But will the insurance company pay if the driver meets with an accident while drunk driving?

Yeah, your insurer will pay for liability and the damages occurred due to such accident. Liability coverage that is compulsory in all the states of USA is a negligent insurance policy for a driver which covers all his medical bills and reimbursement of the damages during the accident. But any damages that you may suffer whether it be body injuries or vehicular damage it will not be covered under your liability insurance because it gets applicable only to the damages of the other person. All the expenditure for damages of yours is required to be shouldered by yourself with regards to the vehicular accident you are the initial responsible person for.

If in case you get arrested while drunk driving the vehicle, then there will be two ways your insurance company will deal with you. 1^st way is that the insurance company will rise up your insurance premiums significantly for three years or until you get your driver’s license reinstated. If your insurer increases the insurance rate which is normally to triple, then you will be declared as a “high-risk driver” in industry of insurance. And to have a DUI record with marking of high-risk driver means that you will have to bear high-priced car insurance rate.

Second way that the insurance companies can deal with you is that they will cancel your policy. This means that you have only 1 good option which is the first way to deal. If the insurance company cancels your car policy then you will need to search out for other insurers and obviously you need take the DUI driving record along with you. On showing the DUI record, the other insurers will offer you highly overstated car insurance rates.

DUI car insurance policies are normally very costly because of the huge risk involved. It is nearly impossible for the drivers to get inexpensive full insurance for their car, once he had got the DUI driving record. Insurance companies generally evaluate the driving records of the person. Insurance companies also post serious penalties on the drivers who meet with an accident due to drinking alcohol.

What can probably happen if you have Under-Coverage Insurance?

If you get caught up in an accident and you come to know that the other party is having insurance with under coverage, then the first question triggering your mind would be, will your insurance policy be able to cover such condition or not? The answer could mostly likely be “Yes” if you have a certificate named “Underinsured motorist protection”. If you are not having this certificate, then your insurance mostly cannot cover this condition. Majority of the insurance companies recommend choosing this option.

If you are not having the sufficient coverage for the above condition, then the insurance company would pay the amount up to the policy limits and usually the other party in an accident will ask you to reimburse the difference amount. Accordingly, the coverage regulations for the uninsured motorists explains that under the auto insurance policies, it provides the cover not for yourself but even for the other passengers in your vehicle and also provides two basic options to choose from:
1. UM/BI, which provides coverage to bodily injury for the insured motorist.
2. UM/PD option. This provides coverage for the physical damage to the uninsured motorist. On one hand, BI provides coverage for the bodily wounds occurred to the operator of the vehicle and to other passengers also, on the other hand PD will provide coverage for the physical damage occurred by the vehicle.

Now let us understand the meaning of UM & UIM:
This means that the uninsured person or the underinsured motorist management can make payment for the injuries gained by you or any other passenger. In the case of an accident, you and whosoever is vehicle driver that is legally responsible for the accident and will be considered as underinsured or uninsured.

A motor vehicle operator is considered as uninsured when he does not have any insurance policy or if he has one but does not meets the amount of minimum liability. One more possibility could be that the insurance company has denied the claim of the vehicle operator because of his financial incapability to pay the same. One good example for this is “hit and run” driver. He will be regarded as uninsured as far as the bodily injury is concerned.

On the other hand, the motor vehicle operator who is able to meet his all the financial obligations but he is not having the sufficient limits to the payment so as to reimburse the amount for injury caused is considered as underinsured. In such situations, UIM or and UM can make the payment for the damages. It is highly important that the safety measure for uninsured and underinsured motorists should be separate.