please help,,need advice

What is the name of your state? georgia

my father was killed in a motorcycle accident a few weeks ago, the other driver was at fault, and charged with vehicle homicide..there liability was only 25/50... a lawyer told me that my dad's life was worth more than that..that i know.. but, he said we could file a claim on his ins. , for under-insured... the other driver and my dad had the same insurance co... is that a problem?

georgiapeach said:

he said we could file a claim on his ins. , for under-insured... the other driver and my dad had the same insurance co... is that a problem?

Click to expand...

No, that's not a problem. You can certainly file a claim on his underinsured motorist policy. Do you know what limits he had on his UIM policy?

please help..

thanks....and as far as i know it was 25/50.... if we settle the claim on the other driver, then all we have to do is file a claim on his for the underinsured?

i also wondered about the funeral bill....can we ask for the other driver to pay it?

If 25k is all the policy has, that's all they have - it will have to include the funeral. If your father's policy for UIM was ALSO minimum, they might not pay anything, it depends on the policy. They might pay an additional $25k to what you are already getting, or they might say that the UIM policy will only pay if the other driver's coverage is less than what you have.

please help....with new question

please help****************************..the ins. company told me the if the other driver only had 25,000 liability, and if my dads underinsured was 25,000..then we can not get his under insured amount...is this true...

If that's what they told you, then yes that must be the truth. I told you that was one of 2 possibilities depending on the policy.

Read the policy.

This can vary by state and insurance companies, but many of them will only cover the difference between your UIM and their BI coverage. The reasoning is by buying only 25k of underinsured, you decided that 25k would be enough money. If the other driver has 25k, they are not underinsured.

In a few other policies it can read the other way and your UIM limit might not be relevant. If they dont have enough insurance to cover your damage, they are underinsured.

Also, make sure that your attorney looks into whether or not the defendant driver has any assets, has a job, or has any other means through which you could collect more than the $25,000. If there is a prayer for collecting additional money from the defendant through garnishment, levy, etc. (think about how the Goldmans are getting some money from their judgment against OJ), then you would want a limited release with his insurance company.

plese help and thanks so much

thanks everyone for all your help...... does anyone no anythingt about " PROPORTIONAL COMPARATIVE FAULT" i read this georgia is a comparative proportional fault state...what does that mean

It means that if your father is determined to have been partially at fault in the accident, the amount you can recover on his behalf will be reduced by his percentage of fault.

ok, thanks... no he wasn't at fault ... on the under insured question, is reading the policy the only way to find out more about underinsured...their amouts were the same...her liability and his underinsured..

Read the policy or ask customer service.

You can try to personally sue the at-fault driver for more than the policy limits, but that will be time consuming and expensive, and if he doesn't have any assets then it won't be worth it. Can't get blood from a stone. And even if he's a millionaire, it won't bring your father back.