The Two Types of Insurance Every New York Driver Must Have

By Melvyn Jacknowitz | Published on August 12, 2011 | 0 Comments

When it comes to automobile insurance, many people think that liability coverage alone is enough. In reality, attorney Melvyn Jacknowitz of Melvyn S. Jacknowitz Attorney at Law P.C., a personal injury law firm in Manhattan, says that many insurance agencies are not telling their customers about the two most important types of auto coverage available in New York State. As a result, many of the clients that Jacknowitz works with are severely under-insured.

If a person owns a vehicle, or if anyone in his or her household owns a vehicle, then it is necessary to sign up for two types of optional policies on top of traditional liability coverage. Jacknowitz says that insurance brokers will oftentimes fail to explain these things to their clients, and people who are working with their insurance companies directly are even less likely to hear about these optional policies.

As the head of a top personal injury law firm in Manhattan, Jacknowitz strongly encourages everyone to get the maximum insurance coverage possible. On top of that, he says that drivers need supplemental underinsured motorist coverage if they want to be protected.

Supplemental uninsured motorist coverage protects people against being involved in an accident with a vehicle that has minimal insurance. A person who is involved in a collision with a driver who has the minimum $25,000 in liability coverage may not be able to get all of his or her medical bills covered by that single policy. These are the instances in which supplemental underinsured motorist coverage could help.

The other type of insurance that Jacknowitz says people need to get is called spousal coverage. This type of insurance coverage is relatively new in New York. To explain why it is necessary, Jacknowitz uses the example of two girlfriends who are being driven to dinner by one of the women’s husbands. If the husband runs a red light and the two women are seriously injured, they would not receive equal compensation for their injuries—unless the husband had signed up for spousal coverage.

The woman who was unrelated to the driver could file a claim against the auto insurance policy—with the help of a personal injury law firm in Manhattan—to get her medical bills covered, even though the woman who was married to the driver would get no such benefits.

Just recently, New York State changed this law and eliminated the spousal differential. However, that only applies if the driver has specifically sought out spousal coverage beforehand. Needless to say, many carriers do not mention this to their policyholders, even though the coverage itself is extremely cheap and easy to obtain.

For more information on how to select the best possible insurance policies, Jacknowitz recommends getting on contact with his personal injury law firm in Manhattan.

*Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.

What People Are Saying.