Attorney Steven Ballin’s Column

ARE YOU MISSING VALUABLE PART 12 UNDERINSURED MOTORIST BENEFITS
COVERAGE ON YOUR PERSONAL AUTOS?

         Underinsured Motorist Coverage is valuable to Massachusetts police officers who are frequently
on the road operating cruisers and motorcycles, or on foot directing traffic or doing road work.  Since
they are so frequently on the road, they have an increased risk of sustaining an injury as the result of
a motor vehicle-related accident.  Many of these injuries are severe, and cause long-lasting damage
to the injured officer. In addition, these injuries cost officers an upward value in the tens or hundreds
of thousands of dollars.  I have represented many officers who were injured during motor vehicle
pursuits, while pulling a driver from a vehicle, or in collisions with vehicles which fail to yield to an
emergency response.  When a police officer is injured in any incident involving a motor vehicle,
the value of their claims often exceeds the compulsory minimum limits of $20,000 per person,
which many vehicles carry in Massachusetts.  Hence, the term “underinsured” motorists; these
drivers do not have enough insurance to cover all of the damages they cause to the injured officer.

            Over the past 25 years, I have found that most officers are unfamiliar with Underinsured
Motorist Coverage, or as it is formally called “Bodily Injury Caused By An Underinsured Auto.” 
As a result, they lack this important, valuable, and inexpensive automobile insurance coverage
on their personal auto policies.  This coverage can be found on the bottom of the “coverage
selections” page in Part 12 of the Massachusetts automobile insurance policies for personal
automobiles. This optional coverage can be purchased along with other optional coverage's
like collision, comprehensive, and substitute transportation.  However, unlike these other
optional coverage's, which usually only apply to the vehicle(s) listed on your policy (“insured
vehicle”), Underinsured Motorist Coverage is more like personal accident insurance, and
applies when individual(s) named on the policy (“named insured”) are injured in an automobile
accident, regardless of whether the insured vehicle is involved, and regardless of whether
the named insured was in the insured vehicle.  The insured vehicle need not, and often is
not, involved in the accident for this coverage to apply.  Part 12 coverage is not only valuable
to the insured named on the policy, but to all members of the household who are related to the
insured who do not have their own vehicles insured in their name.       

            An example of the value of Underinsured Motorist Coverage is the officer who suffers
a neck or lower back injury in a cruiser accident.  The officer may end up out of work for
months, during which time valuable overtime and detail pay is lost. Meanwhile, the officer
endures pain and suffering which continue, even after returning to work, and is amplified
during long hours driving a cruiser or working on foot at a road job.   It is not unusual for such
a claim to have a value of $50,000 or more.  If the offending vehicle is only insured for the
minimum limits of $20,000, then the offending driver is considered “underinsured” (by $30,000
for a $50,000 claim, and similarly “underinsured” by $80,000 for a $100,000 claim, etc.).  If the
injured officer carried enough optional part 12 Underinsured Motorist Coverage on one or
more of his/her personal vehicles at home, we would pursue the injured officer’s own insurance
for the balance of the value of the claim.  When we make such claims, the injured officer’s
automobile insurance premiums are not surcharged because the injured officer was not at
fault for the accident. 

            Unfortunately, police officers, like many other consumers, carry little or no Underinsured
Motorist Coverage.  This coverage is optional and usually not brought to consumers’ attention,
so it is frequently not purchased at all, or only the minimal ($20,000) limits are purchased. 
Such minimal limits are worthless, since the amount recovered from the responsible driver
under the compulsory insurance limit ($20,000) must be deducted from the Uninsured Motorist
Limit in order to determine the amount of available coverage.  

            In our experience, a great majority of officers are not aware of the existence and
importance of Part 12 Underinsured Motorist Coverage.  When we ask our clients what type
of automobile insurance they have, they confidently reply “full coverage.”   However, their
definition of “full coverage” usually refers to larger limits on Part 5 (Optional Bodily Injury to
Others) of  $100,000 per person or higher. This only applies if the named insured, or someone
driving his/her vehicle, causes injury to someone else with the insured vehicle.  When we look
at Part 12 for “Bodily Injury Caused by an Underinsured Auto” on the same policy, we regularly
find no coverage at all. 

            As soon as you read this column, I urge you to review the coverage selection
pages for all the vehicles in your household, and check the amounts of coverage you are
carrying under Part 12 for Underinsured Motorist Coverage.  You do not have to wait for the
renewal date to increase your premiums.  Be advised you cannot increase your limits for
Part 12 Underinsured Motorist Coverage for an amount that is greater than the limit you insure
your vehicle under Part 5 Optional Bodily Injury to Others.  We advise our clients to purchase
as much Part 12 Underinsured Motorist Coverage as they can afford, realizing that they will
have to cover an equal amount under Part 5.  Also, you should consider insuring all of your
vehicles at this higher limit, because in the event of an accident involving an insured vehicle
with a lower limit, you may not be entitled to reach the higher coverage on another insured
vehicle that you own.  Also, be advised that you cannot stack the coverage's of underinsured
motorist coverage's from multiple vehicles.  You are limited to the largest limit that you have
purchased.  (Also, ask your insurance agent about adding or increasing Uninsured Motorist
Coverage limits, which is compulsory coverage found under Part 3 of personal automobile
insurance policies in Massachusetts.  This coverage offers similar protection, but applies
to injuries caused by motorists with no insurance.  This coverage will be the subject of a future
column on this page of the Mass C.O.P. Website).

            The law and language of the insurance policy surrounding claims for Underinsured
Motorist Coverage is complicated and ever changing.   The topic of Underinsured Motorist
Coverage could never be completely covered in an article of this length.  Please be aware
that there is no guarantee of collecting on such coverage just because you have purchased
it and are in an accident with an underinsured motorist.  However, we have been very
successful in making these claims over the past 25 years for police officers injured on
and off duty, as well as for their family members.  Such claims are private matters between
the officer and their insurance company.  The city or town that employs the officer is not
involved and has no right to reimbursement for payment of wages or medical bills.  If a
fair settlement cannot be agreed upon, the court will not get involved.  Instead a  binding
private arbitration between the injured officer and his/her insurance company will be held
to determine the amount of coverage to which they are entitled.

            An injured officer should always consider seeking a free consultation to determine
 his/her rights, benefits, and the probability of making a successful claim.  I am always
available by telephone, email or a personal meeting.  Once I evaluate the case and the
officer’s chances of success, the decision of whether to go forward rests with the officer. 
When we work on these cases, we work on a contingent fee basis. That means the
injured officer pays nothing up front while the case is pending; he/she only needs to
pay for the legal services at the end of the case if we are successful in collecting money
on the claim.   We typically receive one-third of the money collected.   In the off-chance
we are unable to collect money for the injured officer, then nothing is owed for our legal
services. Copyright, Steven M. Ballin, 2007.

Attorney Steven Ballin is available for free, confidential consultation and case review.
He can be reached by telephone at 800-245-2052, or by e-mail at SBallin@PoliceInjury.com
Visit his website at www.PoliceInjury.com to learn more about your rights when injured on duty.