Missouri Insurance Lawyer Blog

Unfortunately, not all accidents are just minor fender benders. Should you find yourself in a serious accident, medical payments coverage pays for medical bills (and sometimes funeral bills) incurred by the driver and passengers injured in a motor vehicle accident regardless of who caused the accident. It also pays for you or your family members injured while riding in another's car or if struck by a car as a pedestrian.

Medical payment coverage is offered by most automobile insurance coverage and is usually sold in increments of $1000, $5000 or $10,000 per person.

Even if you have health insurance, there are often deductibles and co-payments that must be paid. If your health plan requires you to pay a deductible, medical payments coverage may help pay it. This coverage can also help pay for items not covered by your health plan, such as dental treatment, professional nursing services, prostheses, and funeral services.

In Missouri, medical payments coverage is not required. However, I recommend this coverage for most of my clients. If you decide this protection is appropriate for you, make sure you specifically request it from your insurance agent or representative. It is not always provided by simply requesting "full coverage" from your agent.

Continue reading "Do I Need Automobile Medical Payments Coverage?" »

It's amazing how many times I have clients injured in a car crash tell me that that thought they had "full coverage." In Missouri there are minimum state requirements for insurance coverage, but these minimums are very far from full coverage. When your only instruction to an agent or insurance company is that you want full coverage you are leaving your financial protection to chance. Missouri law requires that auto policies have liability insurance coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and the same limits for uninsured auto coverage. There is no legal requirement to have underinsured motorist coverage, medical payments coverage, accidental death, or extended benefits coverage.
Underinsured coverage offers protection from drivers who injure you but do not have enough coverage to cover your injuries. Medical payments coverage pays for medical bills you incur as a result of being injured by a vehicle related incident, if you are killed this coverage pays all or part of the face amount of the benefit depending on the policy. Accidental death provides additional coverage should you die in an auto related incident. Extended benefits coverage pays lost wages if you are off work from an auto related incident.
If you want full coverage you would purchase all of this coverage to insure that you are truly protected. You also need to purchase insurance limits that make sense for you given your financial circumstances. I suggest that your minimum limits should be no less than $100,000 for liability insurance, uninsured motorist, and underinsured motorist. $10,000 in medical payments coverage and accidental death is adequate if you have adequate health insurance and life insurance. If you have significant assets or income then you should purchase higher limits to protect yourself and your family.