ADVISORY ABOUT MASSACHUSETTS NEW COMPETITIVE RATE STRUCTURE FOR AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE: MAKE SURE YOU PURCHASE THREE VALUABLE OPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COVERAGES, AS YOU CONSIDER SAVING MONEY UNDER THIS NEW SYSTEM.
As you may have heard, on April 1, 2008, Massachusetts introduced a more competitive method of setting automobile insurance rates. You may now save money on your personal automobile insurance premiums by shopping around for the best rates offered by various insurance companies. Prior to this new system, all insurance companies offered the same rates that were set by the Division of Insurance. Although these new competitive rates must still be approved by the Division of Insurance, the rates for various coverages on the standard personal automobile insurance policy will no longer be the same across the board, regardless of which insurance company is issuing the policy. Under this new system, the basic terms and minimum coverages required in Massachusetts personal automobile policies are the same, but now companies can also offer a variety of coverages, limits, deductibles, discounts and rates that were not previously available.
This new system received a lot of publicity and, as a result, new insurance companies can be expected to enter the Massachusetts market; and increased media advertising competing for your business can be expected. For example, Progressive Insurance, the nation’s third-largest auto insurer, began offering auto insurance to Massachusetts drivers through its website around May 1, 2008. I am sure many of you have already seen their television advertisements, as well as those of other companies who were already doing business in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Division of Insurance has set up a helpful tool to give you an idea of the amounts you could potentially save. After you answer six basic questions, it will show the premiums from each of the nineteen companies selling such insurance. You can find this sample premium web site at www.Mass.Gov/AutoRates.
It is very important that as you seek to save money on costly automobile insurance premiums, you do not drop or forget to purchase valuable increased coverage under Part 3 Bodily Injury Caused by an Uninsured Motorist and Part 12, Bodily Injury Caused by Underinsured Motorists. You should also maintain or add Part 6, Optional Medical Payment Benefits. I have long advised and continue to urge police officers across the Commonwealth to purchase adequate amounts of these valuable coverages. These relatively affordable coverages on police officers’ personal automobile insurance policies have proven to be an important source of very valuable compensation for police officers injured on duty in various motor vehicle incidents. Such incidents have included: pursuits of stolen motor vehicles; pursuits of other fleeing motor vehicles; collisions while on patrol in a cruiser or while in response to a dispatch; directing traffic; working a road detail; intentional ramming of a cruiser by another vehicle; and removing a driver from a stopped automobile. We have successfully collected compensation for injured officers under these valuable coverages even when not operating a cruiser such as when operating a department mountain bike, motorcycle, and attempting to stop a pursued vehicle on foot. We have even been successful for officers injured as a result of collisions between two cruisers which were engaged in the same motor vehicle pursuit or when an officer has been struck while on foot by a cruiser in pursuit of a fleeing vehicle.
Please do not forget to include these important coverages as you shop around in an effort to save money on your personal automobile insurance policies. It is important you equally insure all of your personal vehicles with equally high limits to protect you in the event of an incident involving one of your own motor vehicles. We advise all officers to carry at least $100,000 per person protection under Part 3 Uninsured Motorist Benefits coverage and under Part 12 Underinsured Motorist Benefits coverage and at least $5,000 of Part 6, Optional Medical Payments Coverage. Although it is beyond the scope of this article and has been the subject of numerous articles in the past, please be reminded these important coverages under Parts 3, 6 and 12 go with you, as opposed to being related only to the insured vehicle. Thus, it is vital that when you are at work, you have the ability to make a claim under these valuable and relatively affordable coverages in the event of an injury on duty involving a motor vehicle.
There are many nuances, laws and court decisions which relate to the availability of these three valuable and important coverages under Parts 3, 6 and 12 of your Massachusetts personal automobile insurance policies: far too many to cover in one article. Although there is no guarantee of success each time an insurance claim is made under any of these coverages, be assured we are highly skilled and knowledgeable about the pursuit of these coverages for injured officers and we have had great success in making these claims for injured officers in a variety of incidents, which many of you would never have considered as being covered. For example, last year I collected $100,000 of Part 3, Uninsured Motorist Benefits from a seriously injured officer’s personal automobile policy, as a result of him being hit by friendly fire while on duty which was intended for a fleeing motor vehicle.
Injured officers throughout Massachusetts should always consider seeking a free consultation with us to determine his or 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 whether to go forward rests with the officer. If the injured officer is out of work, the decision when to return to work rests, as it should, with the officer and his or her doctor. We do not believe in, nor do we have any interest in, keeping officers out injured any longer than necessary to heal from their injuries. As it is, many of our injured officers never miss a day of work and are still able to receive substantial compensation for their injuries which continue to nag at them during long hours spent behind the wheel of a cruiser and/or standing on a road job.
As with all claims involving an officer's injury on duty, there are no guarantees. Many police injury cases involve sophisticated legal issues, problems of proof, technical insurance policy coverage disputes, and issues that arise under Massachusetts General Laws c. 41, §100 and §111F, Chapter 152, State Police Article 8 and/or other related laws.
When we work on these cases, we work on a contingent fee basis. That means the injured officer pays nothing up front and while the case is pending. He or she only need pay for legal services and expenses at the end of the case, if we successfully collect money on the claim. We typically will receive one-third of the money collected. In the off-chance we are unable to collect money for the injured officer, the officer owes nothing for our legal services.
Copyright, Steven M. Ballin, 2008.
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