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Have you ever been confused about your insurance? Thought you were covered, only to find out later that you actually weren’t? Maybe you even thought that you didn’t need it?
The Moto Lawyer, Weston Finn, understands and is here to help.
Weston was born and raised in Detroit, where gas, tires, and oil are a way of life. From a young age, Weston found himself spending a lot of time under the hoods of cars and next to motorcycle lifts, working with his friends and family on their hot rods, muscle cars, and motorcycles. Then, when Weston turned 16, he obtained his motorcycle license. Through motorcycling, Weston bonded with his father more than ever before. Together, they spent all of their free time traveling the country far and wide on their motorcycles. Then tragedy struck. In 2006, Weston’s father was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident that changed both of their lives forever. As a result of the accident, Dr. Finn (Weston’s dad) was forced into early retirement with life-altering injuries. For years, Weston was his father’s caregiver, helping his dad get back on his feet. The heartache of this catastrophe paved the road for Weston. Years of grief, fighting with insurance companies, and advocating on his father’s behalf, transitioned into a career path. Weston wanted to help others who were going through the same thing his family was experiencing. This gave birth to the idea of “The Moto Lawyer” and the founding of The Moto Lawyer, PLLC.
Today, The Moto Lawyer is answering all of your questions about the good, the bad, and the ugly of insurance policies.
What is the number one misconception people have when it comes to insurance policies?
The number one misconception that we hear time and time again at The Moto Lawyer, PLLC is that motorcyclists, in the State of Florida, do not need insurance. THIS IS FALSE, motorcyclists do, in-fact, need insurance when traveling on public roadways. This misconception is derived from a couple of factors: motorcycles are not required to be insured prior to registration, and motorcycles do not fall under Florida’s No-Fault standard. Be advised, motorcycles traveling on Florida roadways must be insured with at least $10,000 of Bodily Injury Liability and $10,000 of Property Damage Liability.
Are there good and bad insurance policies? What makes the difference?
There are definitely good and bad insurance policies. Unfortunately, a majority of people carry “bad policies.” Client’s often come to me and state “I’m fully covered” only to find out that their policy affords little to no benefit for themselves. For example, the minimum required insurance in Florida for a motorcyclist, as described above, is $10,000 in Bodily Injury Liability and $10,000 in Property Damage Liability. If this is how a motorcyclist’s insurance policy is indeed written, this typically provides little benefit to a motorcyclist involved in an accident. To dive into this a little further, it’s going to take a synopsis of terms. Bodily Injury Liability, from a broad-spectrum, provides coverage to the other party you are involved in an accident with. Similarly, Property Damage Liability provides coverage for the damage to the other party for things like their personal effects, their automobile, and/or damage to the surrounding accident site. You can likely guess based on the description of these terms, that none of these coverages provide for the policyholder. A motorcyclist that carries the State minimum would be considered “fully covered” but would have a bad policy. With an extremely high number of motorists being uninsured on the road, I strongly advise people not to put their own fate in the other driver’s hands. Now that we briefly touched on bad policies, let us talk about what makes a good policy.
One of the best things you can do as a motorist is to obtain Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage, often referred to as UM or UIM, respectively. These coverages protect you from falling into the fate of another driver’s bad policy. Another thing that is extremely beneficial is to do something called “Stacking” your policy. This multiplies the coverage based on the number of vehicles on the policy and affords you this coverage no matter where you are or what you’re driving at the time of the accident. Stacked UM and Stacked UIM make for a good policy because they add an additional layer of self-protection. These coverages can be obtained in various monetary increments, and the more, the better. For further information regarding Insurance, I strongly advise people to contact me or another local injury attorney.
What are the three most important things to know when shopping for an insurance policy?
1. To paraphrase Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins, “Good Ain’t Cheap and Cheap Ain’t Good.” I’m constantly hearing people say how cheap their insurance is and that their agent gave them a “hook-up”; on top of that, all of the insurance advertisements mention how quickly the insurance company can “save” people money. We understand that insurance is a hard pill to swallow because it is for an unintended event, that hopefully never occurs. However, you definitely don’t want to be in a position where you need it and don’t have it.
2. Insurance Agents and Companies don’t necessarily have your best interest in mind when selling you a policy. It is best to consult with an Injury Attorney prior to obtaining your policy because we often see how policies go wrong, how people have been misguided in the past, and we can steer you in the right direction with the policy you are looking to purchase.
3. Protect yourself first. Make sure the coverages you are purchasing are for you and your family’s benefit first. This means making yourself aware of the coverage terms and how they apply to you.
What’s a common problem you see in cases related to the insurance policy?
We covered one of the biggest problems, we see, and that’s the misconception about coverage and how people think it applies.
The next most common problem that we see in cases related to insurance policies is simply an undervaluation of an injured party’s claims. Insurance companies are in business to make money and let’s just say, “business is good.” When it comes to evaluating a claim, the insurance company will try and retain as much money as possible. This is done using a variety of tactics and hoops to jump through. These tactics and hoops are why it is important to retain an injury attorney. We have your best interest in mind and most likely will be able to get you more money than you would have obtained on your own.
To find out more about The Moto Lawyer, PLLC, you can visit their website here.
To find out more about Weston Finn, visit his Haute Lawyer profile here.
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