Uninsured Insurance Suit

Do you understand uninsured and underinsured insurance policies? Are you certain you have the proper amounts of insurance coverage to keep yourself and your family protected in the case of a motor vehicle accident? Do not make the mistake of assuming your insurance company is on your side in an uninsured motorist car crash. An Ohio uninsured motorist court case took 3 years to conclude.

“The claim of the policyholders arose from a 1994 Ohio Supreme Court decision, Martin v. Midwestern, which declared the “other owned vehicle” exclusion to be invalid. Before that decision, this exclusion required that State Farm policyholders buy uninsured motorist coverage (U coverage) on all household vehicles in order for the policyholder and resident relatives to be fully protected. After the Martin decision, the continued purchase of U coverage on household cars beyond car No. 1 provided no additional benefits to policyholders or their resident relatives and, essentially, became coverage for “guests” who occupied a policyholder’s household car.

Our client lost his son in a motor vehicle collision and attempted to stack the uninsured motorist coverage’s on all 5 of his household policies. He was prevented from doing so because State Farm had a valid “anti-stacking” clause in the policy. It became apparent that no additional benefit was provided to our client or his resident relatives for paying U coverage premiums on the rest of the household cars. Our client had not been informed by State Farm either orally or in writing how Martin changed his policy. He further expressed the view that he didn’t want to insure any and all guests who rode in his cars but was only interested in insuring himself and his family members who lived under his roof. “Let the Arizona injury lawyers at Phillips and Lyon protect your right of fair compensation against insurance company manipulation and bad faith practices. Contact us to receive the sound legal advice and dedicated representation you need. We have offices in Phoenix and seven other convenient Arizona locations.

Failure to wear a seat belt contributes to more fatalities than any other single traffic safety-related behavior. 63% of people killed in accidents are not wearing seat belts. Wearing a seat belt is still the single most effective thing we can do to save lives and reduce serious  accidents causing horrible spinal cord or brain injuries on America’s roadways.

Data suggests that education alone is not doing the job with young people, especially males ages 16 to 25, ­ the age group least likely to buckle up. They simply do not believe they will be injured or killed. Yet they are the nation’s highest-risk drivers. Statistics show they are involved in more drunk driving, more speeding, and more over all crashes. Neither education nor fear of injury or death is strong enough to motivate this tough to reach group.

It takes strong seat belt laws and high visibility enforcement campaigns to get the public to buckle up.  Arizona law requires all front seat occupants to have a lap and shoulder belt properly adjusted and fastened while the vehicle is in motion. The driver will be issued a citation for all passengers under the age of 16 sitting in the front seat and not wearing a seat belt properly.

Seat belts save lives! In Arizona, “Click it or Ticket”.

http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/seat_belts.html

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Every day, roughly 800 residence fires occur in the nation with most starting overnight, between 8:00 pm and 8:00 am. More than 6,500 Americans die in home and apartment fires annually, and over half are children or elderly people.

As we know, Arizona is especially prone to fires due to the extremely dry conditions.

Taking three precautionary steps can save lives:

1. Install smoke alarms, and teach everyone about the dangers of smoke and flames in a home fire.
2. Plan and practice escape routes, especially with small children. Kids get scared and could run and hide instead of trying to get out
3. Identify a post-escape meeting place so you know everyone is safely out of the fire
4. Get fire extinguishers and have them handy in the kitchen, garage and by the Bar-B-Q outside

If you are in an apartment frequently check the fire exists to make sure they are accessible. There have been cases where people were trapped because landlords secure fire exits to keep trespassers out.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a home or apartment fire contact the law office of Phillips and Lyon. We have been helping injury victims since 1977.

There are many different types of insurance coverages, and many misconceptions regarding what constitutes “full coverage” on your insurance policy. You may think you have full coverage but in many instances that is not the case. The following are the basic coverages that are available and each of them are very important:

Liability Bodily Injury – In Arizona the minimum coverage required is $15,000.00 per person/$30,000.00 per accident. If you or someone driving your vehicle are legally liable for an auto accident this coverage will pay for the other parties injuries.

Collision – This coverage will help pay to repair or replace your vehicle after an auto accident. This coverage is usually subject to a deductible.

Comprehensive – This coverage will help pay to repair or replace your vehicle from damages not resulting from an auto accident such as a theft, glass breakage, or damage caused by storms. This coverage is usually subject to a deductible.

Uninsured Motorist – This coverage applies to you your passengers and blood relatives living in your household when injured by an uninsured motorist. You need not be in a vehicle to use this coverage in Arizona.

Underinsured Motorist – The same group of people are covered here as were covered in the Uninsured motorist situation. It comes into play when the responsible party had coverage but did not have enough insurance coverage to pay the full value of your injury claim.

Medical Payments – This coverage will help pay medical bills incurred as a result of an injury occurring in connection with the use of an automobile and includes the insured, passengers in the insured’s vehicle and blood relatives living in the household.

If you are unsure of which coverages are included in your current policy contact your agent or look at your policy declaration page. Remember, accidents are not planned and can cause horrible injuries. Review your coverage now not after a serious accident.

“Alcohol-related crashes accounted for 17,419 traffic deaths in 2002 — 41 percent of the total. Repeat drunk drivers represent less than 1 percent of all drivers but are involved in about 27 percent of fatal accidents,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

At Phillips and Lyon, we stand up for the victims of drunk driving accidents and work hard to get them the compensation they deserve injuries or the loss of a loved one. If you need legal assistance with a drunk driving accident or death, please contact the Phoenix Accident Lawyers of Phillips and Lyon.