auto insurance

Published on: April 22, 2017

Distracted Driving Causing Spike in Auto Insurance Premiums

You may have noticed an increase in your family’s auto insurance premium rates recently. Average insurance payouts around the country are increasing, and distracted driving accidents are partly to blame.

The increasing numbers of people dying in distracted driving-related accidents are causing auto insurers to raise premiums. The role of distracted driving in our traffic fatality toll cannot be overstated. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported a 14% increase in the number of fatalities last year, for a total of 40,000 across the U.S. Many experts believe that distracted driving is contributing to this spike.

Since 2011, American families have seen their average insurance premiums increase by as much as 16%, to a total of $906. Insurers say that they have no other choice but to increase premiums because of the large number of drivers involved in collisions while operating vehicles and using smart phones.

Published on: October 22, 2011

Dealing with Claims Adjusters at Insurance Companies after an Auto Accident in Georgia

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

MSN Money has a few tips for persons involved in car accidents in Georgia.None of these tips are a surprise to Atlanta car accident lawyers, but many motorists fail to understand how doing the wrong things soon after an accident can damage their claim. Insurance companies have extremely experienced insurance adjusters who handle claims for personal injury and wrongful death. Unfortunately, a great deal of what impacts a claim for personal injury often occurs before the victim has counsel. It is during this timeframe that insurance adjusters have their greatest impact on the outcome of injury claims.

One of the first people that you will meet after an auto accident is the claims adjuster from the other driver’s insurance company or from your insurer.A claims adjuster’s job is to identify fraud in an auto accident claim.As Atlanta car accident lawyers, we often find claims adjusters trying to confuse an accident victim, by trying to get accident victims to settle as quickly as possible.Unfortunately, when a driver says or does the wrong thing after an accident, it can negatively impact the claim. In one recent case, an insurance adjuster was able to get a person with a serious spine injury to settle for an extremely small amount of money thereby eliminating his claim for future damages.

A claims adjuster may also try to fool you into comprising your claim by encouraging you to visit a “preferred repair shop. “ Often, these repair shops will underestimate the damage to your car or fail to have the vehicle properly repaired because they are endeavoring to lower the cost to the insurer. Each person who has been in an accident has a right to go to the repair shop of his or her choice.

Published on: September 8, 2011

Insurance Companies Held to a New Standard on Health Insurance Premiums? Not Exactly.

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Georgia’s Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens is going to set insurance companies straight- well, he can try, but likely will not succeed.The piece from the national healthcare reform puzzle which requires insurance companies to justify rate increases will become effective on September 1, 2011.If this change helped to hold down rates, then persons injured in car accidents could better afford the premiums while they are out of work trying to recover. Unfortunately, if you are injured in an auto accident, you are likely to see your health insurance premiums continue to rise. This could be resolved once the new healthcare law’s mandatory provisions take effect. However, as Georgia personal injury attorneys have warned, if the healthcare law is declared unconstitutional thereby eliminating universal coverage, the problem with personal injury victims getting the treatment they need while unable to work will continue indefinitely.

The rate justification requirement forces insurers to publically post any rate increases over 10% and explain why the increase is reasonable.This 10% rule only applies to policies covering individuals and small businesses.All new double-digit rate filings will be submitted with much more documentation now. It is then left to the state to decide if the increase is reasonable based on health care costs and other factors.

We are relying on this new rate review process to save us from the big, bad insurance company, right?Unfortunately, Georgia law ties the hands of the insurance commissioner’s office by giving him no authority to reject rates submitted by the insurers.The insurance commissioner’s office “enforces and regulates laws enacted by the state legislature under Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia.”In other words, Georgians will have to rely on unreasonable rate hikes to be handled by the federal government.

Published on: September 19, 2007

Uninsured Motorist Coverage for Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The state of Georgia requires all motor vehicle owners to secure minimum liability insurance coverage for their vehicles.This insurance provides for payment for damages in the event the other driver suffers a personal injury in the car accident.However, there is no requirement that motor vehicle owners secure uninsured motorist coverage to pay for their damages if the other driver is at fault and they have suffered a severe personal injury in the auto accident.See Jenkins & Miller Georgia Automobile Insurance Law (2007 ed.) 29:3.

Uninsured motorist coverage has aptly been called “insurance against lack of insurance”.See Jenkins & Miller Georgia Automobile Insurance Law (2007 ed.) 29:1.It is available and recoverable only when the fault causing the car accident is found to be that of the uninsured or underinsured vehicle’s driver.Id.It is an important form of insurance since it allows the injured person to recover their damages.

The purpose of UM coverage “is to place the injured insured in the same position as if the offending uninsured motorist were covered with general liability insurance.”Another way of explaining the purpose of UM coverage is that coverage is available to protect innocent injured drivers against irresponsible drivers who fail to secure coverage for auto accidents.The coverage is not available for the benefit of the irresponsible, but for those injured or caused to incur damages by the uninsured’s negligence.