A serious Mississippi car accident can produce medical expenses and financial losses that quickly exceed the amount of insurance carried by the driver who caused the crash. This is especially true when an accident results in surgery, traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, permanent disability, extended time away from work, or the death of a loved one.
Mississippi requires motorists to carry minimum levels of automobile liability insurance, but those minimum limits may be nowhere near enough to compensate someone who suffers catastrophic injuries. A driver may be legally responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages while carrying only a fraction of that amount in available bodily injury coverage.
At Barrett Law, PLLC, I represent people seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents throughout Mississippi. When the at-fault driver’s insurance appears insufficient, I do not simply assume that the policy limit is the most my client can recover. The investigation should determine whether additional insurance policies, underinsured motorist coverage, commercial defendants, employers, vehicle owners, or other responsible parties may provide additional sources of compensation.
Mississippi’s Minimum Liability Insurance May Not Cover a Serious Injury
Mississippi’s motor vehicle financial responsibility framework generally requires minimum liability limits of $25,000 for bodily injury or death to one person, $50,000 for bodily injury or death to two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for property damage.
Those amounts can disappear quickly after a serious crash.
A single emergency surgery can generate medical expenses far beyond $25,000. Add hospitalization, rehabilitation, lost wages, future treatment, and pain and suffering, and a severe injury claim may be worth many times the at-fault driver’s liability limit.
If several people are injured in the same collision, the available liability coverage may need to be divided among multiple claimants.
This is why determining the insurance limits should be only one part of the investigation.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage May Provide Additional Compensation
One of the most important potential sources of recovery is underinsured motorist coverage.
Mississippi automobile insurance policies are generally required to include uninsured motorist coverage unless the coverage is rejected in writing. Under Mississippi law, an uninsured motor vehicle can include certain vehicles whose available liability coverage is insufficient relative to applicable uninsured motorist coverage and the damages involved.
In practical terms, underinsured motorist coverage may help when the negligent driver’s liability insurance is not enough to compensate you fully.
For example, suppose your damages are substantial but the at-fault driver carries only a minimum liability policy. If you have applicable underinsured motorist coverage, your own insurance policy may provide an additional source of compensation.
That does not necessarily mean your own insurer will voluntarily pay the full value of the claim. Once a UM or UIM claim is made, disagreements can arise over liability, damages, coverage, and the amount owed.
Your Own Insurance Company May Become an Adverse Party
People are sometimes surprised when their own insurance carrier disputes an underinsured motorist claim.
You may have paid premiums for years and expect the insurer to protect you. However, once you seek substantial UM or UIM benefits, the company has a financial interest in limiting what it pays.
Your insurer may challenge the severity of your injuries, dispute whether all treatment was caused by the crash, question your lost wages, argue that you share fault, or disagree about the value of future damages.
That is why an underinsured motorist claim should be treated seriously. The fact that you are dealing with your own company does not mean the claim is automatically uncontested.
Another Insurance Policy May Apply
The negligent driver’s personal automobile policy may not be the only liability coverage available.
The driver may live in a household with additional potentially applicable coverage. The vehicle owner may be different from the person driving. An umbrella or excess liability policy may exist.
If the accident involved a business vehicle, employer, delivery company, trucking operation, or other commercial activity, additional commercial policies may apply.
One of the most important parts of a serious accident investigation is therefore identifying all applicable insurance rather than stopping after obtaining the declarations page from one personal automobile policy.
The Driver May Have Been Working at the Time of the Crash
If the negligent driver was performing job duties when the accident occurred, an employer or business entity may potentially become responsible depending upon the facts.
This frequently arises in crashes involving delivery drivers, commercial vehicles, sales employees, service technicians, contractors, utility vehicles, company cars, and trucks.
A driver who appears to have only modest personal insurance may actually have been operating within a commercial setting supported by substantially greater liability coverage.
Determining where the driver was going, why the trip was being made, who owned the vehicle, and whether the driver was performing work can therefore be extremely important.
Commercial Truck Accidents May Involve Multiple Defendants
Truck accident cases require an especially thorough investigation.
A tractor-trailer crash may involve the driver, motor carrier, truck owner, trailer owner, maintenance company, cargo-loading company, contractor, or another commercial entity.
Each may have different responsibilities and insurance coverage.
A catastrophic truck accident should never be evaluated solely by asking how much insurance the individual driver personally owns. Commercial trucking operations often involve insurance and corporate relationships far more complex than an ordinary passenger-car accident.
A Vehicle Owner May Be Different From the Driver
The person behind the wheel is not always the vehicle’s owner.
A borrowed automobile, company vehicle, rental vehicle, family vehicle, or commercial truck can create additional insurance questions.
The owner’s policy may provide coverage depending upon the policy terms and circumstances.
Ownership can also matter when a company or other entity entrusted a vehicle to the driver.
The exact legal theories depend upon the facts, but identifying who owned and controlled the vehicle is an important part of a serious accident investigation.
What Happens if There Are Several Injured Victims?
A major collision can injure several people at once.
If the negligent driver carries only limited insurance, all injured claimants may be seeking compensation from the same policy.
That can create difficult settlement issues.
A policy with a per-accident limit may cap the total amount available regardless of how severe the combined injuries are. One person may require surgery while another suffers permanent disability, yet everyone may be competing for limited coverage.
Early legal involvement can be particularly important in these cases so you understand the available insurance and how claims are being handled.
Can I Sue the At-Fault Driver Personally?
The negligent driver can potentially remain legally responsible for damages beyond available insurance coverage.
The practical question is whether the person has assets or income from which an additional judgment could realistically be collected.
Some defendants have substantial personal or business assets. Others have little beyond the insurance policy.
A lawyer can evaluate whether pursuing personal assets is realistic in the circumstances. The existence of inadequate insurance does not automatically mean a claim should end, but collection considerations are part of the strategic analysis.
What if I Was Partially at Fault?
Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence.
That means your own percentage of fault generally does not automatically eliminate recovery, but it can reduce the amount of damages you are entitled to receive.
When available insurance is already limited, fault allocation becomes even more important.
If an insurer succeeds in assigning part of the responsibility to you, the amount it argues you can recover may be reduced further.
Accident reports, witnesses, video, vehicle data, photographs, and reconstruction evidence can therefore play an important role in protecting the value of the claim.
Do Not Rush to Accept the Policy Limits
An insurer may offer the at-fault driver’s policy limit and make the offer sound like the end of the case.
Sometimes accepting policy limits is appropriate. Sometimes doing so without first investigating other insurance can create problems.
Before signing releases, you should understand whether underinsured motorist coverage exists, whether commercial coverage applies, whether another defendant may be responsible, and whether resolving one claim could affect another.
A release can permanently surrender legal rights.
The fact that an insurance company offers “all the policy limits” does not necessarily mean all available compensation has been identified.
How Barrett Law, PLLC Investigates Underinsured Accident Claims
At Barrett Law, PLLC, I evaluate both the damages and every potential source of recovery.
I investigate the at-fault driver’s insurance, ownership of the vehicle, employment relationships, commercial involvement, UM and UIM coverage, umbrella policies, and additional responsible parties.
I also document the full value of the injuries, including medical treatment, future healthcare, lost earnings, diminished earning capacity, disability, pain, and other legally recoverable damages.
Knowing the complete value of the claim is important because you cannot determine whether insurance is inadequate until you understand what the accident has actually cost you.
Injured by an Underinsured Driver in Mississippi? Call Jonathan Barrett 24/7/365
If you have suffered serious injuries and the driver who caused your accident does not appear to have enough insurance, do not assume the stated liability limit is the most compensation available.
Barrett Law, PLLC represents accident victims throughout Mississippi and investigates underinsured motorist coverage, commercial insurance, employer responsibility, vehicle ownership, umbrella policies, and other potential sources of compensation.
Call Mississippi attorney Jonathan Barrett 24/7/365 at (601) 790-1505 for your FREE consultation.
