Please see my prior post titled “What is Limited Tort and why should you care” for an explanation of Limited Tort auto insurance coverage.
So you save 10% when you buy Limited Tort insurance, is that a good deal? It is if you never get injured in a car accident. Remember though why you buy auto insurance. You buy auto insurance to protect yourself in the event that you are in an accident. Buying insurance is a means of protecting yourself from many events. You have health insurance to protect yourself in the event of illness. You have homeowner’s insurance to protect yourself in the event of an incident at your home. Your car insurance is there for you in the event of an automobile accident.
If you cause an accident, your insurance will pay for the damage you cause. If someone else causes the accident, your insurance is there to provide some protections and the other party’s insurance will pay for other parts of your damages, such as your property losses and your pain and suffering damages. Rather than type “pain and suffering” over and over again, I’m going to call these damages “personal damages.”
If you have Limited Tort coverage, you may not be able to collect personal damages for your injuries, and this is where you should look at the economics of Limited Tort coverage. Suppose your insurance costs you $1,000.00 per year. If you choose Limited Tort, you save 10%, or $100.00. If you are never injured then you’ve made the right choice. Remember though, you buy insurance to protect against the possibility of an event.
Now suppose you are injured in a car accident and your injuries are such that Limited Tort will not allow you to make a claim. Assume that had you chosen Full Tort you would have been able to make a claim and that you would net $5,000.00. By choosing Limited Tort, you denied yourself the potential to recover this money from the person who caused your injury.
To make up the lost $5,000.00, you would have to save the $100.00 Limited Tort discount for fifty years. Might you be injured in fifty years of driving? There’s probably a good chance that you or a family member will be in at least one accident in fifty years. From a strict financial analysis, Limited Tort does not look like a good deal.
Visit my website at http://www.matveylaw.com/
Serious injuries or wrongful death may occur from automobile accidents, truck accidents, boating accidents, slip and fall accidents, dog bites, or other incidents of personal injury. Often, these “accidents” could have been avoided if reasonable preventative measures had been taken. At Palmieri & Matvey, we are a full-service personal injury law firm based in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. We represent victims and their families who are fighting for justice and fair compensation for their injuries from the initial claims with the insurance companies to filing a lawsuit and through trial. For a free consultation, Contact us today. We can discuss what your case could be worth, what the insurance company involved owes you, and whether you do in fact need an attorney to represent you.
From offices in Center Township, Aliquippa, law offices of Palmieri & Matvey, P.C. serves the personal injury and estate administration needs of Western and Southwestern Pennsylvania including the communities of Aliquippa, Center Twp, Beaver, Ambridge, Baden, Beaver Falls, Bridgewater, Chippewa Twp, Conway, Coraopolis, Cranberry Twp, Economy, Ellwood City, Freedom, Harmony, Hopewell, Leetsdale, Midland, Monaca, Moon Twp, New Brighton, New Castle, Patterson Twp, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Shippingport and Vanport; as well as Beaver County, Allegheny County, Washington County, Butler County and Lawrence County and other areas of Western PA.
