Senior Partner
New York has enacted a new law which helps victims of auto-negligence recover compensation they are entitled to, even if the person who caused their injury has insufficient automobile coverage. Most people know that its a good idea to get auto insurance with sufficient liability limits to help protect them if they are sued by someone injured in a car accident. What most people don’t know is that they have the right to purchase coverage in that same auto policy which can provide them with coverage for their own injuries if the person who caused the accident doesn’t have sufficient policy limits themselves. That coverage is called Supplementary Uninsured Motorist Coverage or SUM coverage. Its been around a long time but its not promoted by the insurance companies. So what we’ve seen all too often are client’s with large liability limits but low SUM limits. Low SUM limits means that if the person who caused your accident has bad coverage your insurance recovery will be limited even though you thought you had purchased a ‘big’ policy. Under the new law, if you purchase a new policy, your SUM coverage will automatically be set to the same level as your liability coverage so can you protect yourself to the same degree as you protect others (unless you opt-out). Unfortunately, under the new law your existing policy is not affected so please check your policy to see if you are getting the right coverage to protect you and your family. Please know that there is a lot of ‘fine print’ that comes into play before you can access this coverage so feel free to call our office if you’ve been injured in an auto accident to discuss your rights.
