If you cause an auto accident, you could face both criminal and civil actions. A civil action is a lawsuit brought by an injured victim or by surviving family members of a victim killed in the crash to recover monetary compensation. 
Injured victims can incur significant medical expenses in an accident. The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association reported in 2008 that AAA estimates a traffic death has a per-person cost of $3.2 million while injured victims had a per-person cost of $68,170.
At the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone, our Massachusetts uninsured accident lawyers serving Boston, Springfield, Worcester and all of the Bay State know if you have only the minimum Massachusetts required coverage of $20,000 per person bodily injury and $40,000 per accident liability coverage, you could end up faced with significant personal liability because this is not enough insurance to compensation those badly injured when you cause an accident.
You Are At Risk With Not Enough Insurance
Your insurance company has an obligation to represent you when you are sued after an accident and to try to settle the case or resolve the claim within the limits of policy coverage.
Motorists without enough insurance could find themselves the defendant in a personal injury lawsuit brought by an injured accident victim. If the court determines you caused the accident, the court will assess the total amount of damages the other driver is owed for both economic and non-economic losses. The jury will award compensation, and the insurance company will pay only up to policy maximum.
The injured victim could try to collect the additional compensation from you personally if you did not have enough insurance to cover all losses. This could involve liens being placed on property, or wage garnishment depending upon how aggressively the accident victim and his attorneys pursue the damages received in excess of insurance policy limits.
The more assets and money you have, the more likely it is that you could become the target of court action intended to obtain compensation from you personally if there is not enough insurance.
The insurance coverage of the victim also impacts whether a claim will be made against you personally, as the victim could instead opt to pursue compensation under his/her underinsured coverage if there is not enough insurance under your policy to pay bills in full. Underinsured coverage, however, is optional, and not all motorists in Massachusetts will have this type of coverage.
Your Own Bills and Costs After an Accident
In addition to being faced with legal action by an injured victim seeking compensation, you may have your own medical bills and costs arising from the crash. Your personal injury protection (PIP) policy should cover these costs up to policy limits, including partial lost-wage benefits if your injuries cause you to miss work. PIP pays out even if you are at fault for the crash.
Massachusetts laws, however, require only $8,000 per person per accident in personal injury protection. If your losses exceed this amount, then you would not be able to obtain the excess damages from your own insurer unless you had supplementary optional coverage in addition to state minimum mandated coverage.
Make Sure You Have Enough Insurance
Being caught with not enough insurance can cost you huge sums of money if you injure yourself or others. It is typically advised to purchase more than the minimum state-required insurance to shift the risk of financial loss to the insurer.
Inadequate insurance lawyers in Boston can help you get the coverage you need after an accident. Call 1-800-WIN-WIN-1 to schedule a free consultation with a car accident lawyer at the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone.