Car Damaged In a Wreck? Don’t Forget About Diminished Value

Insurance companies certainly will not volunteer this information, but when your car is damaged in a wreck, and the wreck is not your fault, you are owed diminished value for your car.  There is no set formula to come up with this value, so there will be some negotiating room.  The amount depends on the age of the car, the value of the car before the wreck, and how significant the damage to the car.  Bottom line, when you are in a wreck, and your car is not totaled, make sure the other person’s insurance company pays you for the repairs, loss of use of your car (typically this is a rental car) and loss in value.

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Do I Assume The Risk Of Getting Hit At a Baseball Game?

What if this happens, but there is not someone as talented as the man wearing the Florida Gators t-shirt shown in the photo sitting next to me that can catch an errant bat that flies into the stands?  Is the baseball team responsible for my injury?  The answer in almost all cases is no.  If you purchase a ticket to go to a baseball game, and sit in an area that is obviously unprotected, you are assuming the risk that you could get hit by an errant ball or bat.  So the best advice when going to a baseball game is, pay attention, and if at all possible, bring along a friend that can catch a bat with one hand and hold his beer with the other.

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Golf Carts Need To Be Taken Seriously

I remember when I was little, I would beg my Dad to let me drive the golf cart.  It was the only chance I could drive some sort of motorized vehicle without endangering everyone on the roads.  Golf carts look fun and harmless, and when driven responsibly they usually are safe.  However, when golf carts are put in the control of an inexperienced driver, or someone taking unnecessary risks, they can be extremely dangerous with the potential to cause serious injury and even death.

This past weekend in Georgia there were reports of two golf cart related accidents.  One accident in Evans, Georgia, involved five teenagers flipping a golf cart after the driver lost control trying to negotiate a steep hill.  The teenagers were lucky, with none of them sustaining any life threatening injuries.  Although, there were several broken bones and terrified parents.  The other accident in Hall County, proved to be much more serious, leading to the tragic death of a Cornelia Municipal Court judge.  The accident involving the Judge was not on a traditional golf cart, but instead involved the sudden acceleration of a Polaris all terrain vehicle (essentially an off road golf cart).  In both accidents, the main cause of the injuries was the vehicle flipping over.  The Cornelia Judge died because he got pinned under the vehicle.

These two incidents underscore the danger involved with golf carts.  While golf carts look fun, and it might be tempting to let an unlicensed driver take the wheel, golf carts can lead to horrible injuries.  The danger with golf carts is that they are usually being driven on hilly uneven surfaces, which makes them easy to flip.  Parents need to make sure their children know how to properly drive a golf cart before allowing them to get behind the wheel.  If the child is not a licensed driver, then parents simply should not allow their child to drive.

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Cheapest Vehicles To Insure

For those people out there that enjoy the “family truckster” you are in luck, according to insure.com the cheapest vehicle to insure is the minivan.  Among the minivans, the winner of cheapest insurance is the Chrysler Town & Country.  Not the sexiest vehicle out there, but people buying minivans are not purchasing them for their looks.

For all you folks that love blazing down the road in a fancy new sports car you better be ready to pay for high insurance.  The vehicle getting the dubious prize for highest insurance is the Mercedes SL 65 AMG.  Not far behind is the BMW 750i.

Not surprising news, but interesting none the less.

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Ronald Reagan and Tort Reform

Andrew Cochran posted a very interesting blog about Ronald Reagan and tort reform.  You might be surprised that President Reagan was not a strong proponent.  In fact, in his eight years in office, President Reagan did not once propose tort reform or attack trial lawyers in any of his eight state of the union addresses, his two inaugural addresses or his two speeches accepting the Republican nomination.  This makes sense because President Reagan was for strict construction of the Constitution and small government.

Underinsured Motorist Coverage

This may be the most important coverage you have on your car insurance policy.  The effect of underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage (UM coverage) is to make sure you are covered if you are in a wreck that is not your fault, no matter if the person that caused the wreck has limited or no liability insurance.  Each state has differing rules, so when I talk about UM coverage I am referring to Georgia law.  However, the basic framework is similar in most states.

The typical scenario is this, you are involved in a car wreck with a person that has minimum liability coverage of $25,000.00 and no personal assets.  Your injuries are significant and the medical expenses that you have incurred exceed $25,000.00 and your claim is worth $100,000.00.  If you do not have uninsured motorist coverage, practically speaking, the most you will be able to be paid back for your injuries is the $25,000.00 from the liability coverage.  This of course is not enough, but if you do not have UM coverage then that is all you will get.  If you do have UM coverage, you can use that coverage to make up the difference between what your claim is worth and the deficiency in liability coverage.  So, for example, if you have $100,000.00 of UM coverage, your insurance company would pay an additional $100,000.00 for your injuries on top of the $25,000.00 liability coverage from the at-fault driver.

In Georgia, insurance companies give you an option to have no UM coverage, “non-stackable” UM coverage and “add on” UM coverage.  When making a choice between these options, always choose “add on” coverage.  It will be the most expensive item (although the price difference is usually less than $100 a year), but it is worth it.  The difference between “add on” coverage and “non-stackable” coverage is with “add on” coverage if you have $100,000.00 worth of UM coverage that is what you will get from your insurance company no matter how much liability coverage the at fault driver has.  So, for example, if the at fault driver has $25,000.00 worth of liability coverage and you have $100,000.00 worth of UM coverage you would be eligible for $125,000.00 worth of total insurance coverage.  On the other hand, if you have “non-stackable” UM coverage of $100,000.00 your insurance company would get an offset for the amount of liability coverage available.  So, in our example, if the at fault driver has $25,000.00 liability coverage your UM carrier would only have to be responsible for $75,000.00 worth of coverage, for a total of $100,000.00 worth of insurance coverage.  $25,000.00 from the at-fault driver and $75,000.00 from your UM carrier.

All this can get a little confusing, so just remember, you want to have “add on” UM coverage and it should match the amount of liability coverage you have.

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Common Car Insurance Myths

Keeping with the car insurance theme, the Insurance Information Institute (“I.I.I.”) just came out with Eight Common Car Insurance Myths.  Here is a summary of the eight myths from the I.I.I.:

1. Color determines the price of auto insurance – not true.  The main price driver is type of car, including make, model, age, etc.
2. It costs more to insure your car when you get older – not true.  Many people 55 and older can actually qualify for reductions.
3. Your credit score has no effect on your car insurance rate – not true.  Insurance companies look at your credit score to help determine a car insurance rate.
4. Your insurance will cover you if your car is vandalized, stolen, or damaged by hail, fire or flood – depends.  If you have comprehensive coverage then you are probably covered, but if you only have liability coverage then you may not be covered.
5. Minimum coverage will protect you if you are in a car wreck – depends.  If you are in a serious wreck where you cause significant property damage or personal injury you may be at risk.  You should purchase enough insurance to protect your assets, minimum coverage may not be enough.
6. If another person is driving your car, his/her insurance will cover a wreck – partially true.  The person driving your car, assuming they have car insurance, will be secondary coverage.  The insurance for the car involved in the wreck is primary, which means it will pay first.  A simple way to remember this is Insurance follows the car.  This is specific to Georgia, other states may differ.
7. Soldiers pay more for car insurance – not true.  If you are a soldier make sure your insurer knows this, you may be entitled to a discount.
8. Personal auto insurance covers both personal and business use of your car – this may not be true.  Many car insurance policies exclude business use on personal policies.  So, if you use your personal car for business use, make sure the car is covered.

One more myth that is unique to Georgia: “my insurance rates will rise because I made a claim on my uninsured motorist coverage.”  – not true.  An insurer cannot raise your rates because you made an uninsured motorist claim stemming from a wreck that was not your fault.  O.C.G.A. 33-9-40.

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Does My Car Insurance Policy Provide Me Health Insurance?

The answer is a resounding maybe.  A little known and underutilized car insurance option is called Medical Payments coverage or Medpay coverage.  Medpay coverage on your car insurance policy provides you money to pay any doctor or hospital bill you incur because you were injured in a car wreck.  The great thing about Medpay coverage is that it will cover your medical expenses related to a car wreck no matter if the car wreck was your fault or not.  

Another positive aspect about Medpay coverage is it is relatively cheap.  The prices obviously differ depending on the driver and the car insurance company, but for example, I have $50,000.00 worth of Medpay coverage and it only costs me $162.00 a year.  In today’s society, when more and more people do not have health insurance, Medpay coverage can at least give you piece of mind that if you are in a car wreck, you can afford to treat your injuries and not have to worry so much about the cost.

I often hear the question, why would I want to spend extra on Medpay coverage when I already have health insurance?  First I say Medpay has no copay.  It is common for people to have at least $20 copays with every medical visit they have.  Similarly, it is also usual for a person involved in a car wreck to attend a medical provider such as a hospital, doctor or physical therapist at least ten times following a relatively minor wreck.  With those visits you are already spending more on copays than Medpay coverage would cost you.  Second, there is no deductible with Medpay.  Often times the amount of treatment required for a minor car wreck will fall under a person’s deductible, meaning that all the treatment will come out-of-pocket.  The final reason I give has to do with reimbursement.  This is a topic unto itself which I will save for another post, but suffice it to say, reimbursement issues with Medpay coverage are far easier to deal with than standard health insurance.

I encourage everyone to speak with their car insurance agent about Medpay coverage.  I suggest $10,000 as a minimum amount of coverage.  Hopefully you will never have to use your Medpay coverage, but if you are hurt in a car wreck, having Medpay coverage gives you one less worry, in a time when one less worry means a great deal.

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Has IBM Created A Virtual Associate?

I am a big Jeopardy fan.  While sometimes Alex Trebek can be a bit much, the show is fun to watch.  This past week, Jeopardy brought back two of its best competitors to go head to head with “Watson”, a computer built by IBM that can listen to a question, process the information and then come up with an answer.  It is amazing that a computer can do question and answer, but it is particularly impressive it can do it with Jeopardy questions.  As many of you may know, Jeopardy questions are not only tough trivia, but they also use word play, puns and have subtle intricacies that make the questions unique.  So for a computer to process this information and then come up with an answer faster than the best of the best, is truly extraordinary.  Not to spoil the show for anyone who has been DVRing it, but Watson has been dominating.

So how is Jeopardy, Watson and the law connected?  Well, it seems like a logical next step to use this technology to help in a law office.  Imagine if you had a unique evidence question, and instead of spending hours doing legal research you could just ask Watson.  Or if you could not remember the cite to a case, you could tell Watson the facts and voila, you would have your answer.  This is obviously a long way off, but it is food for thought.

Here is a link to an article written by an IBM executive that talks about Watson and the law.  Enjoy.

Not Funding The Judiciary Hurts Business

It seems like every state, especially Georgia, is looking for places in the State Budget to cut costs and save money.  This is obviously a good thing.  There should be no place in our government for wasteful inefficient spending.  On the other hand, cutting budgets in the wrong places can do more harm than good.  Here is a very interesting article written by Lester Tate, the Georgia Bar President, talking about how a clogged court system costs business money.

 What do “jobs” and “justice” have in common? According to an economic study released last week by the State Bar of Georgia, a lot. Increased caseloads in recent years, combined with reduced budgets for the court system, have cost Georgians thousands of jobs and our economy hundreds of millions of dollars.

  

As a trial lawyer who has spent 23 years of my life trying all types of cases in courtrooms across this state, I know the importance of “justice.”

But to folks like my father, who lost his job while I was in college when the mill where he worked shut down and who had never set foot in a courtroom except as a juror, “justice” probably seemed pretty far removed from daily economic life.

The state bar’s study, however, found the judicial system to be one of the state’s leading economic development foundations. Specifically, the study found that the efficient handling of “cases impacts both the business and social climate of Georgia.”

This is particularly true in the past decade, when a massive increase in the number of cases filed in our state’s courts was accompanied by an 8 percent overall decline in judicial funding.

When courts become less efficient because of more cases and fewer dollars, Georgia businesses and individuals bear the cost of delays. The slowdowns lead to higher costs, more business uncertainty and reduced productivity. Time and money that should be put to use making goods, providing services and creating jobs instead get spent waiting for justice.

Using a widely accepted statistical methodology, the Washington Economics Group estimated court slowdowns cost Georgia between 3,457 and 7,098 jobs throughout the state. That’s between $176 million and $375 million in annual wages for white-collar and blue-collar workers alike. Considering all factors, the total negative impact is between $337 million and $802 million on Georgia’s economy each year.

Such an economic loss has a profound effect on the lives of all citizens, from the single mother needing to collect child support to the corporate board of directors trying to decide whether Georgia or some other state is the best place to do business.

Business, community and political leaders cannot afford to ignore the courts as an important component of our economic recovery.

Certainly, elected officials at the state and local levels have struggled recently in trying to balance their budgets, particularly after three years of plummeting revenues.

But judicial budget cuts have in fact unwittingly contributed to the economic decline responsible for these budget deficits. Between 2008 and 2009 revenue from fines and fees in Georgia courts declined by $52 million because of slower courts, and the new study estimates annual lost income tax revenue caused by court delays at between $51 million and $115 million annually.

In other words, the cuts cost as much or more money than they saved, and that’s only the direct result.

The state bar’s study shows that there are even deeper, more far-ranging consequences. Somewhere a corporation is contemplating locating to Georgia, but it may not want to do business in a state where it can’t get a speedy resolution to disputes. Somewhere in Georgia a small-business owner may want to hire a new employee, but he can’t afford to until a court rules that the money he’s owed has to be paid.

This means that judicial funding and the speedy, efficient operation of the courts is no longer a cause for just lawyers and judges.It’s also the cause of folks like my father, who started working in the mill at age 15 and lost his job at that same mill at age 54. A functional court system is a rising tide that lifts all boats.

Source: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/the-economic-toll-of-835807.html