Can You Recover More Than the Auto Insurance Policy Limits in Georgia?

It’s possible to recover more than the insurance policy limits in some Georgia accident cases. If the other driver’s insurance doesn’t cover all your losses, you could sue for compensation beyond their insurance coverage. Another option is to look at your own insurance policy for extra coverage. For instance, uninsured or underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) insurance could provide additional compensation if the other driver’s policy isn’t enough to cover your losses. A Georgia car accident lawyer can help you identify all possible sources of coverage and maximize your financial recovery.

What Are the Minimum Car Insurance Requirements in Georgia?

Georgia drivers must carry minimum amounts of liability insurance, which covers other people’s injuries and property damage if they are at fault for an accident. Georgia’s minimum requirements for liability insurance coverage include:

• $25,000 per person in bodily injury coverage
• $50,000 per accident in bodily injury coverage
• $25,000 per accident in property damage coverage

However, even though this is the required amount, it may not be enough to cover all your losses after a serious accident. Since you can only recover up to the at-fault driver’s insurance policy limits, you may be left wondering what to do if your expenses exceed that amount. Thankfully, you may still have options to make up the difference. Contact our Athens car accident attorney today.

Can an Insurance Company Be Responsible for More Than the Policy Limits in Georgia?

An insurance company typically must pay compensation only up to a policy’s coverage limits. For example, if a policy provides $100,000 of coverage, the insurance company normally owes only up to $100,000 on a claim.

However, insurance companies may engage in misconduct or wrongful behavior that could potentially expose them to additional financial liability above policy limits. Insureds may pursue bad-faith or failure-to-settle claims against insurers that mishandle insurance claims. Bad-faith or failure-to-settle claims can become financially significant when losses underlying a claim exceed policy limits, allowing parties to recover more than auto insurance policy limits.

Bad-Faith Failure to Settle

An insurance company can face a separate legal claim and additional liability if it unreasonably rejects opportunities to settle an insurance claim within policy limits. When an insurer rejects a within-limits settlement offer in an injury claim, and the injured person subsequently sues the insured and recovers a judgment, the insured may have a bad-faith claim against the insurance company.

In a bad-faith claim, an insured may recover the additional compensation they had to pay to an injury claimant over the settlement offer the insurance company rejected.

What Is a Policy-Limits Demand in Georgia?

In an injury claim, an accident victim or their counsel may serve a policy-limits demand on an insurance company. Under Georgia law, a policy-limits demand is a time-limited settlement offer in which an injured party offers to accept the full coverage limit available under an insurance policy in exchange for releasing the insurance company from further liability.

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-67.1, any offer to settle an injury claim arising from an auto accident constitutes an offer to enter a settlement contract.

A policy-limits demand must:

• Provide a deadline by which the insurance company must accept the offer (no less than 30 days from receipt of the offer)
• Identify the party or parties who will receive a release from further liability, the nature of the release, and a condition of settlement requiring the insurance company to state under oath that it has disclosed all available insurance coverage to the injured party.

Under the law, only these terms constitute the material terms of the offer, with any additional terms constituting other provisions that the parties might agree to in a final settlement.

How Do You Find Out the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Policy Limits in Georgia?

A car accident victim and their legal counsel can determine the available policy limit under an at-fault driver’s coverage by submitting a formal written request to the insurer to disclose the policy limit. The request must include a statement, provided under oath, regarding the nature of the accident victim’s claim.

Under O.C.G.A. § 33-3-28, an insurer that receives such a request from an injury claimant must respond under oath within 60 days. The insurer must disclose every known applicable policy issued by the insurer (including excess and umbrella coverage), the name of each insured, and the available coverage limit. The insurer must also disclose, within 30 days, the name of every other known insurer that may bear liability for the injured victim’s claim.

Finding all available policy limits can help a car accident victim understand the maximum amount of insurance coverage that can pay for a settlement, which may inform the injured party’s decision to pursue a policy-limits demand.

Can Medical Bills and Liens Be Reduced When Insurance Isn’t Enough?

An injured car accident victim may have other ways to manage recovery expenses beyond insurance compensation. In some cases, an injured party may negotiate outstanding medical bills with healthcare providers to reduce the total cost of their treatment and rehabilitation.

Healthcare providers may agree to accept less than the initially billed amount if they know the patient will recover an insurance settlement. Reducing invoice balances may mean that an injured party receives more of a settlement to compensate for lost income or emotional harm.

Injured accident victims may also have the option of turning to their health insurance to cover medical treatment and rehabilitation expenses. However, a health insurer may require a patient to pursue first-party coverage before turning to health insurance. An insurer may also assert a lien against any recovery the patient obtains in a car accident claim.

Should You Accept a Policy-Limits Settlement Offer?

Even when an insurance company offers to pay the policy limits on an at-fault driver’s auto insurance policy, an injured car accident victim should not accept the offer immediately. Accepting a settlement may mean giving up other avenues for compensation, such as umbrella or excess coverage or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage.

Settling with an at-fault driver’s insurer also usually means releasing the driver from further liability, which would preclude suing the driver and potentially recovering compensation from their personal assets. Furthermore, an accident victim should understand the full extent of their current and anticipated recovery costs before settling to assess whether the offer provides fair compensation for their accident claim.

How Long Do You Have to Pursue Compensation Beyond the Policy Limits in Georgia?

Georgia’s statute of limitations for injury claims (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33) typically requires a car crash victim to file suit within two years of an accident. A car accident claim against a government agency may also have shorter notice deadlines.

Injured car accident victims may also have an opportunity to seek uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage from their insurance company. In Georgia, drivers can select from two types of uninsured motorist coverage or underinsured motorist coverage:

Add-On UM/UIM Coverage

Add-on UM/UIM coverage works by adding an injured party’s coverage limit on top of an at-fault driver’s liability coverage. For example, suppose an at-fault driver has $25,000 in liability coverage, and the injured accident victim has $50,000 of add-on UIM coverage. In that case, the injured party may obtain a total recovery of $75,000.

Reduced-By UM/UIM Coverage

Reduced-by coverage, sometimes called traditional UM/UIM coverage, compares the insurance coverage available to the at-fault driver with the UM/UIM limit. If an injured party’s UM/UIM coverage does not exceed the at-fault driver’s liability coverage, then the injured party may not access their UM/UIM coverage.

Furthermore, even when an injured party can file a claim under their UM/UIM coverage, their insurer may pay only the difference between the injured party’s recovery from the at-fault driver and the UM/UIM limit.

What Is Underinsured Motorist Coverage?

Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage protects you if you get into an accident with a driver who doesn’t have enough insurance to cover all your injuries or other crash-related losses. This type of coverage kicks in after you exhaust the at-fault driver’s policy limits.

For example, let’s say another driver with only the minimum liability coverage is at fault for a collision that leaves you with $50,000 in medical bills. Since the other driver’s basic insurance policy would only cover $25,000 for your injuries, you would still have $25,000 in outstanding medical expenses. If that happened, your underinsured motorist coverage would kick in to cover your remaining $25,000 in medical bills, depending on your policy limits.

UIM coverage is not mandatory in Georgia. However, insurers are required to offer it, so you should have this coverage on your insurance policy unless you rejected it. A Georgia car accident attorney can help you review your policy to determine the full extent of the coverage available after a wreck.

What Is an Umbrella Policy?

An umbrella policy provides extra liability coverage beyond the limits of the policyholder’s regular auto insurance or other policies. If someone is at fault for an accident resulting in losses that exceed their auto insurance policy limits, an umbrella policy could cover the additional costs.

Remember that an umbrella policy is additional coverage the at-fault party might carry. It is not something you can purchase to cover your own losses. Not everyone carries an umbrella policy. Drivers usually need to have higher-than-minimum auto insurance limits before they can buy one. So, if the driver only has the minimum coverage, they likely won’t have an umbrella policy to help with your expenses. However, it may come into play in some cases, such as crashes involving trucking companies.

Will You Need to File a Lawsuit Against the Driver If Their Insurance Is Not Enough to Cover Your Damages?

If the at-fault driver’s insurance isn’t enough to cover all your losses after a car accident, you might consider filing a personal injury lawsuit against them. Filing a lawsuit allows you to seek additional compensation for things like medical bills, lost wages, and property damage costs exceeding the other driver’s insurance limits. However, filing a lawsuit doesn’t guarantee you will recover more money – especially if the at-fault driver doesn’t have enough assets to cover the difference.

Before filing a lawsuit, you can work with a car accident attorney to explore other options. For instance, you can check your own insurance policy to see if you have coverage that would make up the gap between the at-fault driver’s insurance and your total losses. Still, your lawyer might suggest a lawsuit if the other driver has assets and you have exhausted all other options.

Are There Any Other Options for Recovering Your Full Damages?

If the at-fault driver’s insurance isn’t enough to cover all your losses, you have other options to recover compensation:

• Health insurance – One option is your own health insurance, which could pay for medical bills that the driver’s insurance doesn’t cover. However, depending on your health plan, you might still be responsible for copays or deductibles.
• Your own car insurance – You should also check your own auto insurance policy for UIM or collision coverage, which can provide extra compensation if the other driver’s insurance falls short. While collision coverage could pay for damage to your vehicle, UIM coverage can also help with medical bills and lost wages.
• Additional at-fault parties – In some cases, additional parties could be liable for your losses. For example, if a commercial vehicle caused the accident, the company that owns the vehicle could be responsible. If a vehicle defect played a role, you might be able to pursue compensation from the manufacturer.

Exploring all possible sources of compensation can help you cover more of your total losses after an accident.

How Can a Car Accident Lawyer Help You Pursue Fair Compensation?

A Georgia car accident lawyer can help you seek fair compensation after a collision by protecting your rights and handling every aspect of the legal process. They can evaluate your case, review evidence, and calculate the full extent of your losses – including medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and future expenses.

They can then negotiate with the at-fault driver’s insurance company to demand a settlement that fully covers your losses. Additionally, a lawyer can help you explore other options, such as using your own insurance coverage if the at-fault driver’s policy isn’t enough.

If the insurance companies offer less than what you deserve or deny your claim, a lawyer can represent you in court to fight for the compensation you need. They can also determine whether other parties, such as vehicle manufacturers or commercial companies, share liability for the accident. Overall, having legal support can help maximize your compensation after a car crash.

Contact an Athens, GA Car Accident Lawyer

If you’ve been in a Georgia car accident and need help pursuing fair compensation, R. Alan Cleveland, LLC is here. Our team will work hard to seek the financial recovery you deserve for your medical bills, lost wages, and more. We have recovered over $150 million in compensation for injury victims, including a $1.2 million wrongful death settlement for a car crash. Our clients call us “attentive and very helpful and polite.”

Contact us today for a free initial consultation to discuss your case and explore your options.