Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Maryland
Unfortunately, there are still a significant number of uninsured people driving automobiles in Maryland. Not surprisingly, people who are willing to risk not having insurance are also the same people who are willing to take risks in their automobiles, leading to more personal injury auto accident. In Maryland, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is applicable in two situations: (1) Uninsured motorist: the negligent driver has no auto insurance coverage, and (2) Underinsured motorist: where the negligent driver has insufficient liability insurance limits. In other words, the driver who was at-fault for the auto accident has policy limits are lower than the limits of the insured’s uninsured motorist coverage. Essentially uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is insurance coverage that covers your auto accident just as your liability insurance provides compensation for the people that you might injure through careless driving. This coverage in Maryland typically extends to family members who live with you and anyone who is injured in vehicle.
How Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage Works in Maryland
The nuances of how uninsured
motorist coverage works is difficult for many personal injury
victims to get their minds around because it is counterintuitive.
The nutshell is this: if the at-fault driver either does not have
insurance or has low levels of coverage, your own insurance company
will step in and basically take the place of the insurance company
for the at-fault driver, including paying any settlement or judgment
but also defending the case against your personal injury claim.
Why does your insurance company
pay you for your personal injuries when the at-fault driver is
uninsured or underinsured? Your insurance company must pay on
your personal injury claim because they have a contractual obligation
to you to pay out the damages you would have recovered had the
negligent driver had the same insurance policy that you have.
So the claim is actually a breach of contract claim against your
insurance company for the failure to pay what you and your personal
injury attorneys believe is the fair value of your case.
Example of Uninsured Motorist Claim in Maryland
Here's an example: you get into
a car accident with another driver. You have $50,000 in medical
bills. The at-fault driver has a GEICO policy with only $20,000
per person, per accident coverage. Obviously, the value of this
claim will likely exceed the policy limits of the GEICO policy.
You have an Allstate liability policy with $500,000 per accident,
per occurrence coverage on your own vehicle that provides, as
most polices in Maryland do, the same coverage for uninsured motorist
coverage. What happens? Your personal injury attorney in Maryland
makes a claim against both the at-fault driver and your own insurance
company. Let's say the case does not settle, and it goes to a
jury who awards you $400,000. GEICO would pay you $20,000 and
Allstate would pay you the remaining $380,000. If the jury awarded
you more than $500,000, you would still only collect $500,000
(assuming there was not a bad faith claim against GEICO).
What Compensation Can I Get for My Uninsured Motorist Claim?
The one question most frequently asked is will my uninsured motorist auto insurance policy cover my pain and suffering as well as my lost wages and medical expenses. The answer is yes. The purpose of the coverage is to put the victim in the same position as if the uninsured motorist who negligently caused the auto accident had car insurance sufficient to pay the damages incurred by the victim, including pain and suffering damages that the victim incurred as a result of their personal injuries from the accident.
Whose Uninsured Motorist Coverage Policy Applies in Maryland
If I Was Injured as a Passenger?
In some auto accident cases in Maryland
where the passenger is injured, there are two uninsured motorist
coverage policies available to the personal injury plaintiff:
(1) the coverage on the vehicle in the auto accident, and (2)
the injury victim's own insurance coverage. Although the Court
of Special Appeals stated in Schuler
v. Erie Insurance Exchange that the injury victim attorney
may chose which coverage the attorney prefers, it is likely that
a court directly addressing this issue would rule that under section
19-513
of the Maryland Insurance Code, primary coverage rests with the
vehicle and the accident victim's personal insurance would serve
as excess coverage.
What is the Statute of Limitations for Bring an Uninsured
Motorist Claim in Maryland?
An insurance company's failure to settle
an uninsured motorist coverage claim is treated as a breach
of contract. As such, the three-year statute of limitations
governing breach of contract actions in Maryland is applicable.
Accordingly, an injury victim seeking uninsured motorist coverage
benefits in Maryland must bring a claim within three years of
the date the personal injury victim knew or should have known
that he/she had a claim against the insurance company.
See also Maryland Uninsured Motorist Blog
See also Arbitration
Clauses and Maryland Car Insurance Contracts
See also Schuler
v. Erie Insurance Exchange
See also State
Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co. v. Crisfulli
See also Uninsured
Interrogatories
See also Sample
Uninsured Motorist District Court Complaint
See also Sample
Uninsured Motorist Circuit Court Complaint
See also Maryland
Uninsured Motorist Statute
See also Breach of
Contract
See also Pending
Legislation
See also Contact us or call
1-800-553-8082
