Ohio car accident insurance may not cover personal injury

Purchasing full coverage auto insurance is a conscious decision many families make to protect their children and loved ones in case of a car accident.

But full coverage may not mean full coverage, as some Ohioans are finding out the hard way. 

According to MSNBC, some families are encountering a gap in their auto coverage called the “intrafamily exclusion.” This loophole allows insurance companies to deny coverage for passengers in the car suffering personal injury, if the driver of the vehicle caused the car accident. Without this exclusion, underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage would normally pay the medical bills associated with the car accident. 

A family from Allen County, Ohio discovered this gap in coverage after the father caused a car accident, causing one of his children to lose her life and the other two children to suffer personal injury. Under the intrafamily exclusion, the insurance company only paid the $5000 medical payments coverage – not nearly enough to cover the cost of the medical bills, let alone the cost of a young life lost. 

Our Toledo, Ohio car accident attorneys urge drivers to go over their policies with their insurance agent, to ensure that the coverage you buy is the coverage you get. Reading the fine print could save you down the road. Protect yourself and your family by purchasing underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage, to ensure maximum recovery in the event of a car accident.