What You Should Know about Auto Insurance coverage.

In the case of motor vehicle accidents, it is a sad reality that many drivers do not carry enough liability insurance coverage to adequately compensate others injured in an accident. According to the Texas Department of insurance:

“Because of car prices and the high cost of medical care, the minimum amounts might not be enough to pay all of the other driver's costs if you're in an accident. Other drivers could sue you to collect the difference. Consider buying more than the basic limits to protect yourself financially.

Liability insurance doesn't pay to repair or replace your car or to treat your injuries. Consider buying other types of coverage - such as medical payments, collision, and comprehensive - to pay for these expenses.”

If you are reading this before having an accident, you should also add personal injury protection (PIP) to your insurance policy because this type of coverage helps pay your medical bills and lost wages even if you are at fault an accident.

Finally, purchasing uninsured motorist (UM) coverage and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage will provide an additional source of funds for you if another driver is at fault for an accident but does not have enough insurance coverage.

There are extremely important types of coverages. Without them, you are basically paying your insurance premium each month to pay for other people’s injuries but not for your own.

What to Do After an Auto Accident

After motor vehicle accident, get as much information as you can from the other drivers and witnesses. If you can, snap a picture of the other driver’s proof of insurance and driver’s license. The main information that you need are: insurance company name, driver’s name, driver’s current address (which is often different from the one on the driver’s license), driver’s license number, type of automobile, license plate number. Also get the name, address, email address, and phone number of any witness to the accident. If the police were called, ask for the item number for the police report.

Pictures are worth 1000s of words (and possibly dollars):

Take pictures of the accident scene as well as of the damages to your car and the other cars involved. Without doing any sort of medical evaluation, insurance company adjusters often use the amount of damage to a car as an indication of how much injuries you should have suffered in the accident. This goes to show that insurance companies do not see you as individuals; they see you as statistics and numbers.

As a Dallas car wreck lawyer, I'm here to help you get the best possible outome for your case. Do not hesitate to call, text, or email us.

Finesse of the Lying Salesman: Your Rights under the DTPA.

When I was buying a car in law school, the salesman tried to sell me a warranty plan. “It’s a good deal,” he said. I replied that this was a relatively new car and the warranty was only for 2 years. “Nothing is going to happen to the car in two years,” I said. To which he replied, “even if the car breaks down after that, you can take it in and we will fix it at no cost.” Having just taken a course in contract law, I asked “can you write that on the sales agreement and sign it.” Of course, he refused and so I did not get the warranty plan.

Behaviors like these happen every day. A salesman tries to make a sale by telling you whatever he thinks will close the deal.

“Is the transmission good in this car?” “Yes, it is. We did a 16-point inspection and it’s perfect. Just sign here.”

“If this does not work, can I get a refund?” “Sure you can! Just sign here.”

“What if I cannot afford the payments?” “Don’t worry about that. If you cannot afford the payment, just return it. Sign here.”

LIES, LIES, all LIES! What can you do? What if the document you signed said you bought the item “as is” with no warranties or refunds?

First of all, never listen to anything a sales people say if it is not in writing. Ask them to put it in writing and if they won’t, don’t trust them.

Second of all, if representations are made to you during a transaction, make sure you keep a record of it. Maybe write it down, or bring another person to the transaction with you. One client secretly recorded a defendant making all sorts of false statements to him during the transaction. Of course, he did not know they were false at the time. But that recording made it easy to prove the claim.

The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) may provide some relief to persons who were deceived during certain consumer transactions. Specifically, the DTPA aims to “protect consumers against false, misleading, and deceptive business practices, unconscionable actions, and breaches of warranty and to provide efficient and economical procedures to secure such protection.”

If you think you may have a claim under the DTPA, please call, text or email me. It does not matter whether your potential claim is big or small.