AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS
Roof Crush & Seatbelt Litigation
EMPLOYEE RIGHTS
SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY
We all are required to carry insurance on our cars, however many of us are left wondering what type of insurance we actually have and when would we need it? This article will help you explore your insurance coverage and identify coverages you may not realize you need until it is too late. When looking at the declarations page that the insurance company gives you after purchasing insurance, the coverages are broken into groups that include: Liability, Comprehensive, Medical Payments-Missouri, Personal Injury Protection (PIP)-Kansas, Uninsured Motorist, and Underinsured Motorist.
Liability
Liability coverage insures you against a claim that you have negligently injured another person in an automobile accident. Liability insurance does not pay for any bodily injury or property damage you or your vehicle sustain in an accident. Liability insurance is the minimum coverage you must carry in most states.
Liability insurance covers 2 kinds of damages: bodily injury and property damage. Bodily injury insures you, if you are at fault, against the personal injury damages you cause to another. Property damage insures you against the damage caused to the other person?s car if you are at fault.
Collision and Comprehensive
If you desire more insurance coverage than the minimum required, collision and comprehensive coverages are other options. Collision helps you pay for any damage or repairs your car may need from an accident caused by you or an authorized driver of your vehicle. Collision can also be paid out to you, the insured, when you are involved in an accident with someone else at fault. Comprehensive coverage pays the cost of repair or damages to your vehicle should it be vandalized, stolen or damaged by an act of God.
Medical Payments -Missouri
Medical Payments ?med pay? coverage pays or reimburses the insured and family members or passengers involved in an accident for medical bills incurred in an accident. These bills will be paid regardless of fault, up to the policy limit. You do not need to worry about a deductible and utilizing this coverage should not raise your premiums. Similar to towing or roadside assistance insurance, med pay benefits are defined in the insurance policy. Under med pay you are not required to reimburse your insurance carrier if you later receive a settlement or judgment from a third party. Med pay coverage is inexpensive and is a wise investment when purchasing insurance.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP)- Kansas
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits pay for medical expenses, rehabilitation, funeral expenses, lost wages, and in-home assistance for you and your passengers injured in an accident, regardless of who is at fault. Passengers who own their own cars must collect under their own policy. The State of Kansas requires its drivers to have at least $4,500/person for medical expenses. Unlike in Missouri, if you receive any settlement from a third party you are required to reimburse your insurance carrier for the amount they paid out under PIP.
Uninsured Motorist (UM)
Uninsured motorist coverage applies when you are in an accident and the other person is at fault, but does not have auto insurance. It is estimated that 18% of drivers in the United States do not have auto insurance. The States of Missouri and Kansas require you to carry uninsured motorist coverage. When purchasing coverage remember if you choose the minimum $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident, then if you or your family members are seriously injured in an accident and the other driver does not have insurance you are limited to $25,000 regardless of your injuries, including death. As with liability coverage, consider buying a higher policy limit on your uninsured motorist coverage.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM)
Underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) pays for damages caused to you by a driver with inadequate insurance coverage. It pays over and above the at-fault driver?s policy limits. For example, if you have $50,000 in UIM coverage and you get in an accident with $45,000 in medical expenses and the at-fault driver?s policy limits are $25,000, you can collect $25,000 from the adverse driver and submit the balance to your insurance company for coverage under your UIM coverage. The State of Missouri only requires drivers to carry $25,000 in liability coverage. Therefore it is important for you to protect yourself by buying enough insurance. For anywhere from $6.00 to $12.00 a year you can purchase UIM coverage and insure yourself and your family for an additional $25,000 to $50,000 of coverage.
Insurance companies do not always look out for your best interests. If you are injured in an auto accident and have questions regarding your insurance, or other questions relating to personal injury, please call Athena Brackmann at (816) 471-4881or e-mail her at abrackmann@sirolaw.com.
Automobile Defects:
In an automobile collision, occupants should not be seriously injured or killed because of a gas tank fire. Yet, that can and does happen because of defects in the design of automobile fuel systems. Gas tanks can be placed in dangerous positions in an automobile when safer alternative locations are available. For example, gas tanks are placed near the rear bumper of a vehicle where the tank can be vulnerable in a rear-end collision. Sometimes, gas tanks are placed near sharp objects that can tear into a gas tank in a collision, leading to a fire. Sometimes, there is not an adequate barrier between the occupants of the automobile and the gas tank. All of these design defects can lead to serious fire in the occupant compartment of a vehicle that can cause serious injury or death. If you or someone you know has been burned or killed in an automobile crash, please feel free to contact us for further information.
Roof Crush & Seat Belt Litigation
In an automobile rollover accident, occupants can die or be seriously injured when an occupant's head is partially ejected from the vehicle. The vehicle can be defective because the vehicle roof is not strong enough to withstand the rollover accident, thus crushing down on the occupants. In addition, the vehicle can be defective because the vehicle seatbelt fails to hold the occupant in the vehicle and allows the occupant's head to exit the vehicle. Manufacturers can make safer roofs and seatbelt systems, including installation of side-curtain airbags that keep the occupant's hood in the vehicle. Unfortunately, many vehicles are not sufficiently crashworthy to protect occupants in an rollover accident. If you or someone you know has been injured due to roof or seatbelt defects, please contact us for more information.
You are a long-term employee. One day you are advised that you have been caught up in a reduction-in-force or reorganization, or are told by your supervisor or Human Resources that for some unexplained (or suspicious) reason your services will no longer be needed. You are advised that out of the goodness of their hearts, management and Human Resources would like to offer you a severance package. To get it you must sign a Release, waiving any rights you may have to file a claim or lawsuit against the company under any and all statutes or regulations known to mankind - a full and complete release. What do you do? Is the money they?re offering fair, is the money negotiable? Are any of the terms of the agreement negotiable? Will they agree to give you a good letter of reference or pay outplacement expenses even if it was not offered in the severance agreement?
Whether you are getting a fair deal or you are entitled to more money or better terms, depends on many things. As you might imagine, some companies are more generous than others. Where one may offer one week of severance pay for each year worked and nothing more, another may pay two weeks or more, plus outplacement services, extended insurance benefits and other fringes to make the transition to unemployment (and hopefully your next employer) a more tolerable one. In negotiating a better severance package you need to consider how badly the company wants you to sign the release, and in turn, how badly you want or need the offered severance money. If the company truly believes they have played fairly with you and have not violated any laws in their employment decisions, they will be less likely to deal with you, and if you choose to play hardball and demand additional pay or benefits they will not budge, or worse, they may choose to withdraw the severance offer. So, if you believe the company has treated you fairly up until your discharge, and you really need the money, think long and hard before making that counter-demand.
However, if the company knows it has discriminated against you in selecting you for termination (based on your age, gender, discrimination, disability, national origin), or is firing you to retaliate against you for blowing the whistle to company officials or the authorities about illegal company activities, or for you legitimately complaining about discriminatory misconduct, management may be willing to pay additional severance money and non-economic concessions to settle future claims. While a company will rarely, if ever, acknowledge it has acted outside the law, if you can present facts to show that you legitimately believe and can prove discrimination or retaliation, the company will most likely be receptive to negotiating a more favorable settlement package. If you cannot come to an agreement, you are free to reject the severance pay, refuse to sign the Release, and seek to enforce your legal rights in an administrative agency or the Courts.
If you have any doubt that you are being treated fairly, or have questions on what the severance package provides and the legal effect of its terms, give us a call. We can help you consider your options and, in the right case, improve and maximize your severance package.
