Michigan auto accident lawyer warning: Insurance adjusters lie, so you must know how to protect yourself
This week, I’ll continue to write about specific car accident cases where it’s in your best interest to, at the very least, speak with an accident lawyer.
Here’s today’s warning. Adjusters Lie. All the time. Especially about the amount of insurance you have.
Have an accident lawyer review any case involving “policy limits”
All I can say is that I’ve seen dozens of cases where the insurance company intentionally and knowingly misrepresents the applicable amount of insurance policy limits. Policy limits tells you the amount of insurance coverage available. To make sure you know the correct insurance policy limits, you must demand a certified declaration page from your auto insurance company.
If your car accident involves a corporate vehicle or truck, there will also likely be excess or umbrella layers of coverage involved. These are completely different policies. Often, they will be hidden or not voluntarily disclosed by your auto insurance company. In other words, even when an insurance company says its offering you policy limits after a catastrophic car accident or wrongful death, there is a good chance it is not.
Personal injury and wrongful death cases involving truck accidents
In catastrophic personal injury cases and death cases involving trucks, or in any serious truck accident case, you will need an attorney to review for additional coverage such as the MCS-90, and the load broker or shipper liability as well. Remember, the minimum interstate insurance policy limit is $750,000, but when the trucking company representative is telling the family of the person their driver just killed that this is all the insurance coverage, although technically true, it omits several other additional sources of insurance coverage that could add millions of dollars to protect the family.
I see this in nearly every death and catastrophic personal injury truck accident case. It can take literally hours of reading the different policies, but finding that extra layer of coverage or additional defendant can add $5 million in coverage. And most umbrellas for the bigger trucking companies are higher.
It should cost you nothing to have an experienced lawyer review the insurance policies to make sure there is not money being hidden from you. A good accident lawyer will review the policy limits and insurance contracts without charging you.
Here’s a testimonial from a person I helped, Tony Harris, whose fianc? was killed in a truck accident.
– Steve Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top accident lawyers handling serious car accident and truck accident lawsuits. He routinely writes about insurance company abuse and the No-Fault laws in Michigan, and is available for comment.
Related information:
How to read your Michigan insurance policy
Michigan No-Fault resource center
Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (248) 353-7575 for a free consultation with one of our accident lawyers.
