What to Know About Biloxi Car Accident Claims

If you or a loved one are considering pursuing a lawsuit for vehicle wreck injuries, seeking legal counsel immediately may be advisable. Having an experienced lawyer could help you understand what to know about Biloxi car accident claims. A seasoned car accident attorney could provide the legal guidance and support you need. Call today to learn more about how a legal professional could help you with your claim.

How Automobile Wrecks Claims are Handled in Biloxi

A car accident claim in Biloxi is unique because of the numerous courts where one may bring a car accident case. A person may bring his or her case in county court, which is a court of limited jurisdiction that has a cap of $200,00 on the amount one might recover. Many car wreck cases fall within the $200,000 cap range. While the disadvantage of the county court is that a plaintiff must convince five out of six jurors to win his or her case.

The circuit court is not subject to the $200,000 jurisdictional limitation applicable in county court, and there is a larger jury in circuit court. A plaintiff will have claims heard by a jury of 12 and only need to convince nine to get a verdict in his or her favor. It usually takes longer to get to trial in Biloxi in circuit court than it does in county court.

If someone has jurisdiction, they can take their case to federal court where there is a different jury pool. Federal court is where one tends to get to trial more quickly than he or she would in circuit court.

Automobile Liability Insurance

Everyone in Mississippi is required to have a minimum of $25,000 in automobile liability insurance per person for bodily injury. Automobile liability insurance is intended to protect people from injury and harm on the roads caused by another individual’s failure to exercise reasonable care or a violation of the safety rules of the road. For more information about automobile liability insurance and its impact on claims, contact a Van Cleave experienced lawyer.

Negligence in Car Collisions

If a driver causes someone else to be injured because of his or her negligence, the insurance helps pay for the injuries and damages. In Mississippi, lawyers are not allowed to directly sue the insurance company for the person whose fault caused the wreck. Attorneys are also not allowed to tell the jury that the defendant driver has insurance. Consequently, the plaintiff must file suit against the driver and the jury is not allowed to know that the defendant driver has insurance in place to compensate the plaintiff for his or her injuries.

When a lawyer brings a case to trial, the defendant almost always has insurance. However, the lawyers are not allowed to inform the jury of this fact.

What is Uninsured or Underinsured Insurance Coverage?

It is important to know about uninsured or underinsured insurance coverage in Biloxi car accident claims. Everyone is required under the law to have insurance with a minimum liability limit of $25,000. There is also uninsured motorist coverage or underinsured motorist coverage (UM). The coverage applies to an individual who was not at fault for the wreck and the at-fault party does not have insurance or enough insurance to cover the damages. If someone in Mississippi gets a policy of liability insurance, he or she automatically gets UM coverage up to the minimum amount or the liability limits if he or she requests UM coverage to match that amount. There is an exception to this if the individual rejects UM coverage in writing.

An individual cannot get more UM coverage than liability coverage. If he or she could afford to get liability coverage, the person should always increase his or her UM coverage to the same amount as his or her liability coverage. It does not cost much to get UM coverage. If someone is in a wreck in Biloxi, it is likely that the other driver does not have enough insurance to make them whole if he or she is seriously or catastrophically injured.

Stacking Insurance Coverage

It is critical for one to have as much UM coverage as possible. In Mississippi, UM coverage stacks. Stacking is an option that allows someone to claim injuries from one accident to combine more than one UM policy. For example, if a husband and wife with two kids each have a car and have $100,000 of UM coverage on each car and they are all insured through the same insurance company, those policies stack.

If one of the family members is in an accident and suffers catastrophic injuries and the at-fault driver has only $25,000 of coverage, the injured person can stack the four vehicles’ $100,000 UM coverages in their household.

Call to Learn More About Biloxi Car Accident Claims

Reaching out to a lawyer who is familiar with what to know about Biloxi car accident claims may greatly help you deal with the aftermath of your car crash. A personal injury attorney could review your case, explain how insurance could play a part in your claim, and build your injury claim to help you recover damages. If you or a loved one were involved in a vehicle wreck, contact an accomplished attorney today to get a free initial consultation.