Is it worth it to have more than the minumum car insurance?

[tallyho8]

The minimum coverage for liability insurance in Louisiana is $15,000. If you get in a minor wreck it seems like lawyers will just go for the quick settlement of $15,000 if that is all the insurance that you have. But, if you have a large policy, they see that as a goldmine and immediately the victims go to a chiropractor and the lawyer's doctors and go for the whole caboodle.

The reason I am bringing this up is because I carry a $300,000 liability policy. My wife was involved in her first accident in 45 years a short time back. She was in the drive-thru at a McDonalds in her Ford crew cab, which can barely make the turn around the back of the building in the drive-thru lane. Turning a little too sharp, her right rear wheel hit the curb so she had to back up a little to pull over to the right more so she could make the turn.

While backing up at maybe 2 miles an hour a car pulled up behind her and they bumped. Her trailer hitch made a hole in the plastic grill of the car behind her but she did not even realize that they had bumped since it was such a minor bump. She pulled forward to the drive-up window and the lady in the car ran up to her shouting "you ran into me." She looked at the car and saw where her trailer hitch had broken her grill and phoned me to come over there quick. Her truck had no damage at all.

When I got there I saw the lady and her 3 passengers just standing around normally talking and I proceeded to take photos and get them to exchange information (ids name of insurance co.) Then everyone went inside to place their orders since they had to pull out of the drive-thru lane so they wouldn't hold up other people. They called police for a report but police would not come out to take a report on private property. They told us to just exchange info and contact the insurance co the next day to take care of things. No mention of any injuries. Then, to get proof of what occurred, the lady went to the employees asking if they saw what happened and when they said they never saw it, she went into a rage cursing and screaming at them and they phoned the police to remove her from McDonald's.

The 4 occupants happened to be Mexicans and the next day went to a lawyer who contacted my insurance company and found out how much insurance I had. JACKPOT! Then they all went to chiropractors and within a week my insurance company had paid 3 of them $4000, $6000 and $10,000 to settle. Another week later my insurance company phoned me to let me know that the driver was suing us for $1,000,000 and that my insurance might not cover the claim and to be prepared.

They said these cases usually drag on for 3 or 4 years so I am sitting in limbo waiting to see how this turns out and if I will lose everything I have due to this fraudulent claim. A poor person with no morals will gladly sit around a few years with a neck brace on while their lawyer forwards them enough to live on while the case goes to court making their "injury" seem more severe.

And my wife had our grandson in a car seat in the back seat and he swears that the cars never hit because he didn't feel anything. Probably, if I had only had $15,000 insurance, the lawyer would have taken the $15,000 quick settlement to split between them.

 

[CADplans]

Just the opposite,,,
I have a million dollar umbrella policy,, it covers everything.
I asked the insurance guy about it.

He said my premium is paid to pay the lawyers,,, so the insurance company NEVER pays out a dime.
Sure, they fix a fender, the usual stuff,, but,
how often do you think an insurance company will pay $1 million to a "Bubba" with a stiff neck??

 

[RollingsFarms]

Your wife would have been better off leaving the scene. Seriously. I say that because cops don't respond to parking lot fender benders (as you found out) so basically in their eyes it never happened. Yeah sure they could call the cops and report what happened but that is hard to prove that it was your wife who backed into them, especially if there were no witnesses or video. Cops are more than likely to tell them to take a hike. I'd ask the opposing lawyers to provide me with proof that all 4 are legal citizens and see how fast they drop the case.

 

[4570Man]

The easiest thing to do would have been to just pay out of pocket to fix her car. I have a $1000 deductible and if it's really minor damage $1000 would fix it. Assuming it was her fault. If it wasn't if have to agree with the previous poster above leavening the scene.

 

[CurlyDave]

Just the opposite,,,
I have a million dollar umbrella policy,, it covers everything.
I asked the insurance guy about it.

He said my premium is paid to pay the lawyers,,, so the insurance company NEVER pays out a dime.
Sure, they fix a fender, the usual stuff,, but,
how often do you think an insurance company will pay $1 million to a "Bubba" with a stiff neck??

I have a $5 Million umbrella policy. It only costs a little more than the $1 Million policy. The real, practical reason is that in any serious claim the insurance company will send their "A" team of lawyers to defend me.

 

[mark02tj]

Basically, if you have nothing to lose (in other words, you have nothing in the bank, you rent an apartment and drive a crappy old car), you take the minimum insurance. If you do have something to lose (money in the bank, a house, decent cars, a TRACTOR), you up your coverage so you don't lose what you have.

I'm supposing that it's pretty rare that cases ever get settled for more than the insurance coverage and it doesn't surprise me that the "victims" lawyer is putting out some big numbers for the "suit". It'll get settled and I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it. The lawyer is throwing out a big number and will settle for much, much less - knowing that the case will never make it to court.

Hopefully your wife got some pictures of the damage so the "victims" don't damage their car any further.

Getting on my soapbox.... It's cases like this that drive up our insurance costs. Your insurance company will settle the $1M suit for something much, much less because it's easier and cheaper than going to court. The insurance companies should fight this stuff and eventually it will go away. If the insurance company fights something like this for a long time and makes the "victims" lawyer rack up a bunch of hours that he'll never collect on then the contingency lawyers won't waste everyone's time and money doing crap like this. Off my soapbox now....

 

[cat fever]

It could also be a scam where the "victims" already had the damage to their car and just go around looking for trucks with the hitch in and claim to be hit. I would certainly let your insurance company know that your wife didn't even feel a bump and the "victims" are making the whole story up.

 

[ray66v]

The $15,000 minimum is a very old. And is ridiculous by today's standards.

That amount, is not sufficient to cover one vehicle, in a serious accident. Let alone any medical bills.

It should be raised to at least $50,000. Which, is obviously not going to go very far either.

When I become supreme leader, i will fix antiquated nonsense like this. As well as, getting rid of the penny, nickle and dime. (You can't buy anything with them, anyway). :confused3:

 

[mddorange]

This happened to me a few years ago but my insurance company held firm and after 3 years the case was dropped and only my insurance company lawyers got paid.

 

[KYErik]

That stinks that the other passengers claimed injury- it is good that you did have sufficient insurance to cover it. Like others have said, a driver will be sued if the damage (real or fabricated) is for more than they are insured. I keep an umbrella policy as well. I am a good driver, but who knows if I might have a blowout or slide on an icy road into another vehicle- which technically would be my fault.