Your Car Insurance
Choosing the right coverage is essential to having the insurances you require when you have an accident. To purchase coverage with holes is as big an error as buying an umbrella that leaks. If is doesn’t cover you when it rains, you’ve paid for a worthless walking stick.
Full or limited tort: The word “tort” may be the most confusing and misunderstood word in the vocabulary. It is sufficient to know that “full tort” means that you have retained all your legal rights to compensation if you are harmed by someone else’s carelessness. “Limited tort” means that you have given up those rights unless you meet one of a short list of exceptions, all of which are under constant legal challenge by the insurance industry so as to narrow them to as limited application as possible. You right to compensation becomes hostage to a legal morass. While Mr. Zimmerman can guide you through this morass in many cases, it is always best to avoid limited tort, for the small difference in premium is rarely worth it.
Uninsured motorist coverage [UM]: This is the coverage which compensates you when you are harmed by the carelessness of an uninsured driver or a hit and run vehicle. Without this coverage, you are left out in the cold, at no fault of your own. Considering that there are thousands of uninsured vehicles on the road in Philadelphia alone, this is essential coverage.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage [UIM]: This coverage compensates you when you are harmed by the carelessness of a driver with insufficient coverage to fully compensate you for your injuries. In 1984, Pennsylvania required that all vehicles have a minimum of $15,000 liability coverage per injured person, but no more than $30,000 per accident regardless of how many people were injured. In 1984 a postage stamp cost 20 cents and a gallon of gasoline cost $1.27. Medical charges have skyrocketed since 1984. Wages have grown significantly. Nevertheless, these limits have never been changed.
Underinsured motorist coverage adds additional coverage to the coverage held by the careless driver, to compensate you for the full value of your claim. It is an essential coverage.
Use of either your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage will not and cannot increase your premiums or cause you to lose your coverage.
“Buy-downs” or “requests for lower limits” reduce those coverages. Why would you protect the other drivers on the road with higher limits than you protect yourself and your own family. You should have both coverages in an amount equal to your own liability coverage.
Stacking: “Stacking” is an inexpensive way to multiple your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages by the number of vehicles on your policy. For example, if you have uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and you have three vehicles on your policy, for a small additional premium, you can increase that to $75,000 and $150,000 in coverage. It rarely makes sense to reject or waive stacking.
The above explanation is only a short synopsis of the important choices you are required to make every time you purchase automobile insurance. Call Mr. Zimmerman for a fuller explanation or to answer any questions you may have in regard to your coverages. There is no fee for this service.
Making your home safe for yourself and visitors:
The most common home dangers, in terms of accidental injuries, are easily preventable. Falls account for 44% of all household injuries. Remove all tripping and slipping hazards promptly. Failing to see to these dangers could expose you to injury or to an injury claim.
- loose or frayed carpeting – replace or repair, secure with non-skid pads, avoid throw rugs
- loose laying electrical cords – reroute or remove
- icy sidewalks – salt promptly and regularly with an ice-melt material
- broken, uneven or raised sidewalks – remove trees with roots running under sidewalks, inspect, repair and maintain
- lack of handrails – install on both sides of stairways
- lack of lighting – install outdoor lighting on paths and stairways. Install night-lights near stairways, hallways, and in dark areas.
- slippery bathtubs – apply non-skid strips to your bathtubs and showers and install grab bars in showers and bath tubs, as needed.
- stairways – keep clear of toys, shoes, and other items.
- spills – clean up spills immediately, being sure to remove greasy or oily residue with a degreasing agent.
Premises cases:
Pennsylvania law categorizes persons coming onto another’s property into three basic categories: business or public invitee, licensee and trespasser. The duty the land owner owes is different for each. An interesting scenario is as follows:
Joe goes to Burger Joint. He walks up to the counter to order his food, and slips on a pickle, falling to the floor. Joe goes into the bathroom to clean himself up and slips and falls on water on the bathroom floor. He is now incensed, and storms into the kitchen to tell off the manager. Unfortunately, he slips and falls on the greasy kitchen floor. Poor Joe!
When Joe slips at the counter, he is a business invitee – on the property for the monetary benefit of the owner – and owed a higher standard to care by Burger Joint. When he slips in the kitchen, he is a licensee, one permitted to use the bathroom, and is owed a standard duty of care. Once he entered the kitchen, which is off-limits to customers, he became a trespasser and Burger Joint owes him only a very limited standard of care. Joe’s ability to recover for his injuries from each fall is distinctly different and he may be able to recover for one and not another.
Premises law is complex and it takes a lawyer like Mr. Zimmerman, with decades of experience to navigate the shoals, to keep you case in safe waters. A less experienced lawyer is not unlike a less experienced surgeon, pilot or bus driver – your chances of a succesful recovery may be less.
