Every driver in Texas is required to buy car insurance in case the driver causes an accident. If a motorist causes a crash, the victims of the accident can sue or make a claim against the driver with the help of an auto accident lawyer in Galveston. The goal of the victims is to obtain compensation for losses. Most individuals don't have enough personal money or assets to cover all car accident losses, so insurance pays legal fees and damages up to the policy limits for covered drivers who cause a crash. The insurance protects the victim from facing out-of-pocket costs due to an accident and it protects the driver who caused the wreck from being forced to personally pay huge damages when he is sued.
Unfortunately, there are some car insurance policies in the state of Texas that provide motorists with coverage that doesn't offer the full amount of protections that the policyholders expect. Many drivers who have these policies aren't even aware they have so-called "junk" insurance. Now, the Dallas News reports that lawmakers have taken steps to solve this problem.
Texas Lawmakers Protect Insured Drivers from Car Accident Losses Due to Inadequate Insurance Policies
The insurance policies targeted by the Texas lawmakers are called "named driver" auto insurance policies. Unlike most insurance policies that will provide insurance protection for family members and others who drive a car owned by the insured, a named driver policy ONLY covers the person who purchases the insurance and/or who is named in the policy. This means that if a man purchases insurance for his vehicle and he allows his girlfriend or wife to drive the car, she might not actually have insurance coverage for her trip.
Named insurance policies typically cost less than other policies that provide broader coverage. However, drivers who buy these policies are often unaware of the coverage limits, and thus those who use their cars could get a terrible surprise in the event that they cause an accident and find out they are not covered.
Lawmakers now require insurers offering the named driver policies to disclose coverage limits to insured drivers and to list the names of the drivers who are covered by the policy when issuing insurance cards. Hopefully, the new requirements will help individuals buying insurance and those currently covered by this type of insurance to have a better understanding of the type of protection they actually have.
The Texas Department of Insurance estimates that there are as many as 1.2 million named driver policies in the state, so it is not a small number of people who are affected by the legal change. Accident victims will also benefit if more people are aware of what the named policies actually cover, since accident victims could currently end up in a situation where they are unable to get full compensation from an insurer if they are involved in a crash with someone who thought he had insurance coverage but didn't.
If you have been injured in a car accident, contact an auto accident lawyer in Galveston at Hagood & Neumann at (800) 632-9404. Offices in Houston and Galveston.