North Carolina and auto insurance

[Jumpy]

My cousins daughter (20) was very recently (holiday weekend- no drugs or alcohol involved) killed in an accident where her boyfriend was driving, and he ran a stop sign. The vehicle that hit them had a fatality as well. This is the same cousin who lost his 18 year old son in Iraq a few years ago. Anyway, my cousin and his wife were struggling financially when they were blind sided with this. His daughter was killed while wearing his deceased sons dog-tags. Even though I don't know them well, the sorrow is something I hope to never experience. My enormous family is banding together to help them out financially.

My question is.. assuming the at fault driver (victims boyfriend who survived) had minimal insurance in NC, will that help to pay for the funerals of the victims? Will the minimal auto insurance provide anything more for her death? The driver has been charged with running the stop sign and causing the deaths.

[malloc]

I''m very sorry for the loss in your family.

I can't really answer your questions, but if you could get a hold of the policy documentation, that should explain exactly what is covered and in what amounts. Almost no one reads them until they are needed, and they are tough to read through, but they should be very clear on coverage.

[Megaguns91]

You'd have to open up a third party claim with the auto insurance. If she had auto insurance, contact them. If she had PIP they would pay and seek reimbursement from the other insurance company. Contact both insurances though, preferably the claim adjusters, and get the down low from them. If both refuse to cover the costs the family should seek settlement in court. I'm very sorry for this tragedy. I hope that you and your family find some sort of solace in this time of grief. :(

[Gingersnap]

That's awful, Jumpy. :(

[Jumpy]

You'd have to open up a third party claim with the auto insurance. If she had auto insurance, contact them. If she had PIP they would pay and seek reimbursement from the other insurance company. Contact both insurances though, preferably the claim adjusters, and get the down low from them. If both refuse to cover the costs the family should seek settlement in court. I'm very sorry for this tragedy. I hope that you and your family find some sort of solace in this time of grief. :( The passengers auto insurance could help with her own funeral, when she was riding in someone elses car?
The funeral is today, and I know the family could not immediately cover the cost of the funeral... I am assuming, with insurance, everything will work out financially, and my cousin has somebody who is giving him good advice. I hope somebody with a level head will step in with some helpful info. Hopefully the funeral director can point them in the right direction. The parents are in terrible emotional shape right now. They have one teenage daughter left. I just cannot imagine how they will recover from this.

[Megaguns91]

The passengers auto insurance could help with her own funeral, when she was riding in someone elses car?
The funeral is today, and I know the family could not immediately cover the cost of the funeral... I am assuming, with insurance, everything will work out financially, and my cousin has somebody who is giving him good advice. I hope somebody with a level head will step in with some helpful info. Hopefully the funeral director can point them in the right direction. The parents are in terrible emotional shape right now. They have one teenage daughter left. I just cannot imagine how they will recover from this.

Yes, because she was not the driver in the vehicle her claim within his insurance would be considered third party. In the insurance world you pay for what you have. If i'm riding my bike down the street and get hit by a bus, my insurance would pay all bills automatically, then later seek reimbursement from the buses' insurance. But as I said, contact the claims manager, ask him or her who needs to be billed.

[Rebel Yell]

I can't speak for NC, but in Ga they would be able to collect the policy limit on bodily injury liability from the other party's policy. There is a possibility they could claim the uninsured/underinsured bodily injury from the insureance policy of the vehicle she was in. Whatever the limit of coverage is on med pay should be collected as well.

If a listed driver is killed in an auto accident, you can collect the limit of each vehicle insured's uninsured motorist coverage. Example: I had an insured get hit on his motorcycle. He had 3 vehicles insured with us with $25K uninsured motorist coverage on each policy. His wife collected the total $75K from the three vehicles.


I hope this helps.

[Rebel Yell]

Yes, because she was not the driver in the vehicle her claim within his insurance would be considered third party. In the insurance world you pay for what you have. If i'm riding my bike down the street and get hit by a bus, my insurance would pay all bills automatically, then later seek reimbursement from the buses' insurance. But as I said, contact the claims manager, ask him or her who needs to be billed.

Your med pay would cover that without going after the other party, up to your limits.

[Jumpy]

Yes, because she was not the driver in the vehicle her claim within his insurance would be considered third party. In the insurance world you pay for what you have. If i'm riding my bike down the street and get hit by a bus, my insurance would pay all bills automatically, then later seek reimbursement from the buses' insurance. But as I said, contact the claims manager, ask him or her who needs to be billed.

That does help. I was worried that they could not even afford the casket that they bought. So, the family will not go into bankruptcy to pay for their daughters burial. While it wasnt requested from them, in lieu of a big bunch of flowers, I will send a comparable monetary donation.

RIP

http://i26.tinypic.com/2qi680o.jpg

[marv]

In a former life, I was an casualty underwriter for the Fireman's Fund.

Most states use a standardized auto insurance policy. Medical payments in the policy cover only strictly medical expenses, not funerals since they're not considered a "medical expense".

But even if the other driver were at fault, the Bodily Injury liability portion of that driver's policy wouldn't cover a funeral. The only course I see is a civil wrongful death action against the boyfriend and whoever his parents/guardians are.

In the end, the girl's family will probably be stuck with it. Sorry.

[SaintLouieWoman]

Jumpy, what a beautiful young woman. Please accept my deepest sympathy. I hope they somehow get the financial part straightened out.