When talking about automobile insurance, everyone has heard the term “full coverage.” Even insurance agents mistakenly tell their clients all the time that they have “full coverage.” As a lawyer who files lawsuits all the time in automobile accidents, let me set the record straight. There’s no such thing as “full coverage.”
Typically, when insurance agents tell their clients that they have “full coverage” what they really mean is that they’ve paid for liability insurance, property damage, medical payments and uninsured motorist coverage. What they don’t do a good job explaining is that their insurance clients have “full coverage” only up to a specific limit in each category. If you are shopping for insurance, you need to know that those limits are often not enough when you need them the most.
For example, Indiana’s liability coverage minimums are set at $25,000 bodily injury or death to one person, $50,000 bodily injury or death to two or more persons, and $10,000 property damage. These limits may be okay in a fender bender, but you could end up in a $100,000 accident with minimum coverage. Often, people in very serious accidents have injuries that require well over $100,000 in medical bills, alone. The person who causes the crash could easily have “full coverage’ but only minimum insurance limits, leaving you with a huge gap in coverage.
In order to avoid this potential financial disaster, ask your insurance agent these two questions: (1) What are my insurance limits in each category of coverage? (2) How much more would it cost me to get more coverage? Contact your insurance agent to make sure you have the best automobile insurance coverage you can afford.
You will probably be surprised how little it costs to get much better automobile insurance coverage. Don’t wait until a car crash to find out if you have enough insurance. By that point, it’s too late.
