Every motorist in Florida is supposed to have car insurance if they own a car. Unfortunately, too many people fail to do this and drive without insurance. In the event of an accident, the insured victims can be left to figure out who will be held responsible for the damages they have suffered.
In this state, drivers are supposed to be provided with uninsured motorist coverage by their insurance company, unless the policyholder rejects it. This coverage means that a person’s own insurance company will cover a certain amount of damages if he or she is injured in a crash and the other driver has no insurance. However, there are too many cases where insurance companies wrongfully deny such claims.
One Florida couple experienced this upsetting situation first-hand recently. According to reports, they were involved in an accident and the man suffered serious injuries. They filed a claim with their insurance company, Geico, as the other motorists involved in the accident were either under-insured or had no insurance at all.
Geico, however, initially denied the claim. It is not known exactly why the claim was rejected, but in similar cases, insurance companies try to argue that the policyholder did not have uninsured motorist coverage.
In this case, the couple took legal action against Geico and won. They were recently awarded $14.5 million by a jury. Had they accepted the insurance company’s decision in the first place and assumed there was nothing they could do, they would have lost out on this substantial compensation.
You should not have to deal with insurance companies that are trying to profit off of your pain by yourself. If you have been injured in an accident but have had your claim denied by an insurance company, you can discuss your case with an attorney who can review your policy and help you understand your rights to pursue the compensation to which you may be entitled.
Source: Insurance Journal, “Florida Couple Awarded $14.5M in Geico Uninsured Motorist Lawsuit,” Nov. 17, 2015