Archive for the ‘Auto Accidents’ Category

It’s the end of summer vacation. Most families have spent the past few months taking road trips to visit family, bonding with friends and enjoying the precious little time we get with warm weather in the Midwest.

It’s a time when kids are getting ready for school, and when parents drop their children off at college for the first time.

It’s also a good time for adults to plan their fiscal budgets for the end of the year. With the holiday season just a few months away, families are already saving up so this Christmas can be a special one for the kids.

There are some things that no one should save on, though. Take car insurance, for instance. Many companies advertise about having the lowest car insurance rates in America. Whether they claim to be able to save you $400, or 15% with a 15-minute phone call, there seem to be a lot of opportunities to save some money.

However, insurance is one thing you should think about upgrading, not downgrading.

Despite their television commercials that suggest insurance companies exist to save you money, these corporations will fight you tooth and nail on the smallest of claims, as well as omit crucial information that could lead you to buy the best valued auto insurance policy.

That is why Hausmann-McNally S.C., wants to help you make the most cost-effective decision when it comes to purchasing your auto insurance. First off, a little background on the business model of insurance companies.

Insurance companies make their money off of the lower liability policies, which are their highest-profit product. The vast majority of claims paid out are in the lower-limit threshold, so insurance companies charge a lot of money for basic packages, but barely anything to upgrade a policy.

According to computer quotes on the companies own websites, for instance, for a 58 year old unmarried Milwaukee man, the cost of upgrading from the most basic $50,000-$100,000 package to a $100,000-$300,000 package from Progressive Direct Insurance goes from $63.85 a month to $66.85, exactly three dollars.

For that same man, the cost of upgrading a $100,000-$300,000 Allstate policy to a high-end $250,000-$500,000 package costs an extra $12 a month.

If the 58 year old John Doe lived in Illinois or Ohio, the costs of the upgrades were a similarly affordable $6 and 9$ respectively.

These price increases run true for all demographics. Whether it’s an extra three dollars a month to upgrade her Progressive policy for a 46 year old married woman in Ohio, or a 21-year-old man spending an extra five bucks to bump up his policy from Progressive in Illinois.

The experienced personal injury lawyers at Hausmann-McNally recommend that you take a look at your current policy and see if it is worth your while to upgrade your policy. Too many times we have seen our clients’ recoveries stifled by their low-end insurance coverages. You can prevent this.

Make sure your policy has coverage for underinsured/uninsured drivers, above your state’s minimum liability coverage. That way, if you are injured by another vehicle, which does not have insurance or doesn’t have enough coverage, you will have a greater chance to be fully compensated. In fact, for drivers in pretty much any state, the cost to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra underinsured/uninsured motorist protections is a relatively modest increase in premiums per month.

Not opting for extra underinsured/uninsured drivers insurance is a very risky move. According to one study, 16 percent of drivers out on the road are uninsured. With there being millions upon millions of underinsured/uninsured drivers out on the road, there is a chance that you get in an accident not at all your fault, but still be stuck with the bill.

Insurance companies, in some states, do not automatically include all of these coverage types in your policy, so it is highly recommend that you thoroughly review your policies to make sure that you have adequate uninsured and underinsured coverages.

Here at Hausmann-McNally, we do not have a preferred insurance company. With the right coverage, nearly all insurance companies will suffice. But to recap, look a little closer at your policy and decide whether it is worth the extra few dollars more a month to give you and your family the desirable financial security you will need in case of a serious accident.

Attorney Charles Hausmann

Wisconsin not only has the best pro football team in the world—our beloved Green Bay Packers– it also holds another, less prestigious, distinction. The state now leads the nation in driving a pro-corporate and anti-consumer insurance agenda. The state’s “Truth in Auto Insurance” bill was repealed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and replaced by Assembly Bill 4, which will benefit insurance companies to the detriment of people who drive cars, trucks and motorcycles.  These changes will likely affect people all across the U.S. as the political influence of the insurance lobby is showing up in new state rules governing auto insurance.

Here are key changes:
The changes in Wisconsin law, scheduled to go into effect on November 1, 2011, are supposed to enable the auto insurance consumer be able to buy cheaper insurance. They do this by lowering the liability insurance limits that people must carry. But in effect, the law enables insurance companies to sell their most profitable product (the lower-limit policies) and steers consumers away from more sensible and reasonably priced policies. In essence, the government is encouraging you to purchase an inferior and inadequate product.

The mandatory minimum liability limits on automobile insurance policies were reduced from $50,000 -$100,000* to $25,000-$50.000. (*The first number indicates the limit of how much one victim could receive from the policy per accident, the second number is the maximum amount per accident that can be paid out in the case of multiple victims.)

Think about it. How easy is it for one auto accident victim to have more than $25,000 in medical bills. How easy is it for a van load of people to rack up medical bills, lost income, and other damages of more than $50,000?  Those amounts are paltry and will leave your personal assets at risk. Where does the money come from if the insurance coverage is inadequate? It comes from the personal money and resources of the individual who bought the “cheap” insurance.  If there isn’t the money, or he goes bankrupt, the injured victims are further victimized.

Our research shows that insurance policies are MORE expensive at the lower-limit level
because consumers get by far the worst bang for their buck. That is because their lower liability policies are their highest-profit product.

For instance, for a 58 year old, unmarried Milwaukee man, the cost of upgrading from the most basic $50,000-$100,000 package to a $100,000-$300,000 package from Progressive Direct Insurance goes from $63.85 a month to $66.85, exactly three dollars.

For that same man, the cost of upgrading a $100,000-$300,000 Allstate policy to a high-end $250,000-$500,000 package costs an extra $12 a month.

These price increases run true for all demographics. Whether it’s an extra two dollars a month to upgrade her Progressive policy for a 46 year old married woman, or a 21-year-old man spending an extra six bucks to bump up his policy from Progressive.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

If you are a victim in an accident and the other driver was uninsured—or underinsured—you were unlucky. Your medical bills and other losses may not be adequately covered, especially considering the fact the new law reduces required medical payments from $10,000 to $1,000. Often, there is no recourse, except to accept the devastating financial consequences. To avoid that problem, insurance companies provide coverage for both underinsured and uninsured motorists. But, under the new law, the required minimum coverage for uninsured motorist coverage was slashed from $100,000 to $25,000, and underinsured motorist coverage is no longer required. The new law only requires that insurers offer the coverage one time to the customer when the policy is delivered. The burden is on the consumer to make sure you have adequate coverage.

We urge insurance coverage purchasers to recognize that this new law is not in their best interest.  We urge you to shop with an eye to what makes sense in these times, with medical and other expenses that mount quickly in the case of a serious accident.

As of November 1, 2011, the bill also prohibits the practice of “stacking,” which enables owners of multiple cars to have their uninsured motorist coverage limits stacked one on top of the other in case of serious injuries. As an example, if you owned two cars and the uninsured motorist coverage was $50,000 per car, you would be entitled to $100,000 of coverage because you would add the maximum uninsured limits from all your uninsured motorist policies. It makes pure economic sense that you paid for two policies for two cars, and therefore should receive the benefit of two uninsured policy maximums.

Under current Wisconsin law, if a two-car family purchases uninsured motorist coverage on each car in the amount of $50,000, the amount of uninsured coverage is actually $100,000 because the family insures two vehicles.  Under the new law that takes effect November 1, 2011, regardless of how many cars you insure and how many premiums you paid for, you would only receive the benefits of one policy. To sum up, under the new statute, you lose and the Wisconsin insurance companies win. You pay for multiple policies, but only get the benefit of single coverage regardless of how many vehicles you insured and how many premiums you paid.

Hausmann-McNally S.C. disagrees strongly with this new legislation. Charles Hausmann, the firm’s president, said stacking ensures accident victims get enough money to pay off their medical bills, hospital costs, recoup lost wages as well as pain and suffering compensation. This new law is a terrible public policy that only protects the economic interest of the insurance industry and throws the consumer under the bus.

“This new bill dramatically reduces the coverage provided by auto policies and encourages people to buy the least cost-effective products they sell,” Hausmann argues. “Wisconsin’s elected officials should be protecting the interests of its citizen-drivers, not the insurance companies.”

It is not too late! If you want to contact your legislator to protest the changes in Wisconsin’s auto insurance laws, do it now. Although the new law is passed, Wisconsin’s lawmakers are at a crossroads on how to serve the citizens of the state. Many are themselves unaware of the consequences of these changes and how it will affect their constituents.

If you live in the other states where Hausmann-McNally practices personal injury law (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin), you need to be concerned. Review your own insurance policy and make sure you have adequate liability, uninsured and underinsured coverage. Make sure your own wealth and assets are not at risk because of what you believed were reasonable policy limits. And join movements that make state legislatures own up to the realities of the market and stop pandering to insurance companies. Consumers are in need of protection, not the insurance companies.

To see what a finance expert recommends for auto insurance coverage, go to:
http://usonlinebiz.com/article/Does-Low-Cost-Auto-Insurance-Equal-Low-Liability-limits-.php

Neither the above-mentioned website or Hausmann-McNally has any interest in further enriching insurance companies, but we felt that our associates have a right to the facts.

NEW RULE TIPS SCALES AWAY FROM JUSTICE.

Hausmann-McNally, S.C. strongly opposes Indiana’s 30-day rule that prohibits attorneys from contacting accident victims to advertise their services. We see a dangerous trend towards this in other states.

This new provision in Indiana’s rules of professional conduct prohibits attorneys from making in-person, written or electronic solicitations in cases involving personal injury or wrongful death within 30 days of an accident or disaster.

This is totally wrong thinking, in the view of Hausmann-McNally President Charles Hausmann. As most of our clients know, we send informational advertising to victims after they have been in an accident. “The rule takes away victims’ rights and gives a clear advantage to insurance companies. This is detrimental to the victims’ best interests. ”

“This rule prevents people who need attorneys to learn about services available to them. More than that, Hausmann argues that the 30-day rule helps insurance companies, the lawyers’ traditional adversary in personal injury lawsuits.

A 2007 study by the Insurance Research Council showed that people who retained attorneys to represent them received two and a half to three times the amount of money than those who did not have attorneys.

“If insurance companies can keep people from receiving written information about their rights for 30 days, they can do whatever they want and no one can stop them,” says Hausmann. Within that critical 30 days, victims may succumb to less-than-fair insurance company offers or hire an off-the-TV law firm with little substance to its claims.

Hausmann-McNally’s 28-page brochure, for example, sets out information about victims’ rights, how the legal process works, how to select an appropriate lawyer and law firm, pitfalls to avoid when dealing with insurance companies and more. “This new rule prohibits us from giving this information to accident victims for 30 days at the most crucial point in their decision process. This level of useful information could never be presented in a TV commercial, or print ad.

“Insurance companies profit immensely if people do not hire attorneys to represent their side of a case.” A recent Bloomberg online article showed that if Allstate Insurance could prevent 25 percent of accident victims from hiring attorneys, their stock would go up $1.60 a share–for an estimated sum of $847,680,000. Money that should go to accident victims is shifted to the insurance company’s bottom line. It is no secret that insurance companies like this new rule.

“What this new rule means is that the victims do not have access to the information that will help them achieve a better settlement from insurance companies.”

It doesn’t help that some law firms create outrageously misleading TV and radio ads. People need to be able to see print material so they can review and carefully judge what the “offer” is from the attorney.

Although the Indiana law went into force in January 1, 2011, Hausmann says he intends to continue fighting it.

Hausmann is particularly incensed at the rationale for the new rule, an alleged concern about the “sensitized state” of victims who were either injured or grieving. “These same ’sensitized individuals’ are prey to insurance companies who are free to contact, deny, delay and make lowball offers.”