Hunter & Cassidy Law

What does your car insurance do for you after a major collision?

On Behalf of | Mar 4, 2020 | Motor vehicle accidents

Getting into a major collision in Missouri can mean having massive bills you need to take care of afterward. From the expense involved in repairing your vehicle or potentially buying a new one if your vehicle winds up totaled to the cost of medical care and wages you lose out on because you miss work, the cost of a car crash can easily reach five or even six figures.

Understanding how Missouri motor vehicle insurance will protect you in the event of a crash will help you better navigate the process of filing a claim and negotiating with the insurance companies involved.

Missouri vehicle insurance is liability insurance, so fault matters

When you insure your vehicle to drive legally on the Missouri roads, you buy a policy that protects you from the financial consequences of a crash that results from your mistakes or negligence. When law enforcement officers or the insurance company determine that you are the one responsible for the crash, your policy pays for the damages experienced by the other driver.

In many states, liability coverage is the only mandatory insurance, which can leave drivers in a vulnerable position if the person who caused the crash doesn’t have an insurance policy. Missouri protects its citizens by mandating uninsured driver coverage on top of liability coverage. Even the most basic policy issued in Missouri will cover you for $25,000 of bodily injury as an individual or for $50,000 worth of care and losses for two or more people hurt in a crash with an uninsured driver.

What is the minimum insurance another driver can have?

Uninsured drivers put other people at financial risk, but so do people who only carry bare-bones insurance policies. While keeping the cost of insurance low can benefit someone’s budget, that slight reduction in expense could wind up costing them more in the long run. In some cases, someone driving may only have $25,000 in bodily injury protection for an individual or $50,000 for an entire vehicle worth of hurt people.

More alarming is the fact that Missouri only requires $25,000 worth of property damage coverage. Even a vehicle that is already a decade-old could cost more than that amount to fully repair or replace after a crash.

In the event that the other driver does not have enough insurance or you wound up relying on your uninsured driver coverage, you may need to also consider a personal injury claim against the person who caused the crash to close the gap between what insurance covered and actual financial losses you incurred. Other times, when the insurance company won’t offer a reasonable settlement amount, you may need to take civil action against the company that denies a claim in bad faith.