Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 8/23/2009

Question
I was in a car accident in August 2008, where the other driver tried to bet the light and ran into the left side on my car. my husband was the driver. he was badly injuried and i was the passagener. i sufferd trama to my face and eyes that left me blind in my left. i had cateract surgey and now i have to have another on the right.  my doctor tells me that i will never be able to see in left eye again. my lawyer informed me that the lady that caused the accident only had a 25,000 liabilty payout. shouldn't i be in titled to more that that. my stay in the hospital was 75,000.  what should i do. how much should i be intitled too.

Answer
Hi Mia,

I'm very sory for your ordeal.

When a person buys auto insurance they decide how much coverage to buy. In this case the person who hit you only bought $25,000.00 in coverage. Your claim is actually against the at-fault driver. You are dealing with his insurance company only because he has hired them to handle claims made against him. However the insurance company can only pay out what the driver hired them to pay out. You car correect that the driver owes you much more than $25,000.00 but that is all the insurance coverage he has. The driver himself is personally responsible for any amount over the $25,000.00. But, if he has no money there is not much chance of ever collecting it.

You should ask your attorney about making a claim against the uninsured motorist section of your own policy. If you have this coverage it may provided additional coverage when someone is underinsured.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh