The Connecticut law of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is considered by many attorneys and insurers to be a complicated “minefield”.
Luckily – two Connecticut attorneys – one, our colleague at RisCassi & Davis, Michael Jainchill, along with Jon Berk Esq. of Gordon, Muir, and Foley, have written a book – Connecticut Law of Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Coverage (4th edition) that cracks the code and helps to make the law understandable to insurance adjusters and attorneys alike. The Connecticut Supreme Court has referred to this book, as the “leading treatise” on Connecticut uninsured motorist law.
Connecticut Supreme Court Justice David Borden once remarked (tongue in cheek) during arguments of Buell v. American Universal Insurance Co., 224 Conn. 766 (1993) – “I don’t understand what the problem is. It’s such a simple statute.”
If only it were simple! …and if all the possible factual situations did not make it more complicated.
What does uninsured and underinsured coverage provide?
This coverage is required in order to protect you and your family in the event of an injury caused by the negligence of another driver who does not have adequate automobile liability coverage. It allows you to make a claim against your own auto policy to cover losses incurred in car accidents with at-fault drivers who either have no insurance coverage or inadequate coverage on their motor vehicle. It also protects you in the event you suffer an injury from falling or flying debris from another vehicle, are struck a motor vehicle while walking, running, or cycling, or in cases where you are forced from the road by another driver who flees the scene.
As the authors state in the forward to this book – “it would not be an exaggeration to state that in Connecticut more decisions have been written on this area of insurance coverage than all other areas of insurance coverage combined.”
Why?
Every car injury case is potentially an uninsured or underinsured motorist case…
What’s more, a “decision (on one of these cases) of an arbitrator or superior court judge has as much chance to be sustained as it does to be overturned.”
Again quoting the authors: “In this area, in order to know where one is going, one has to know where one has been. One must be knowledgeable of the fundamental principles of the coverage. Unless the broad underpinnings of the coverage are considered, opinions and conclusions may be made that ignore these underlying principles and lead to ad hoc results. … This area continues to be a minefield for the unwary traveler. It is hoped that the present edition will serve as an effective road map for that traveler.”
To learn more about the book and where you can purchase a copy, visit: http://www.atlanticlawbooks.com/uninsure.htm