When you get hurt in a car accident, you might have some first-party benefits that can help you recover compensation for the crash. Your PIP (personal injury protection) might cover some of your bills, plus uninsured motorist (UM) and uninsured motorist (UIM) insurance might help if the other driver doesn’t have insurance or has insufficient insurance. However, it is important to know how long you have to file a claim for uninsured motorist insurance.
Generally speaking, filing with your UIM insurance isn’t a lawsuit, so it isn’t governed by the statute of limitations for injury cases. Instead, the insurance policy usually dictates how long you have to file a claim with the insurance company. Various rules might then dictate how long they have to respond and when you can deem their response a denial. From the date of denial, you usually have 3 years to sue your insurance company for breach of contract for failing to pay you – though you may be able to start your claim well in advance of this is they have refused to give you a clear answer one way or the other.
For help getting damages from your insurance after a crash, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras’ Maryland car accident lawyers at (410) 694-7291.
When Can You File with UIM Coverage After a Maryland Car Accident?
Your UIM (underinsured motorist) coverage is something you pay for to help protect you if you ever get into an accident with a driver whose insurance is too low to cover the damages. Paying a portion of your insurance premium toward getting this coverage is often worth it when other drivers have only state minimum insurance and you end up with serious injuries in a crash. In any case, UM/UIM coverage is required in Maryland, so you should have it available to you if you have insurance.
You cannot typically tap into your UIM insurance until it becomes apparent that your case meets the insurance policy’s requirements. Typically, this means having proof that your damages go above and beyond what the other driver’s insurance policy will cover. You can work with your insurance company and our Adelphi, MD car accident lawyers to see what evidence and statements from the other driver’s insurance company are needed before your insurance company lets you tap into your UIM coverage.
Additionally, many drivers worry that their claim with UIM will come too late. You have to look at the terms of your specific policy to see how long your insurance company gives you to file a claim. The typical outside statute of limitations for suing for an injury after an accident is 3 years under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art., § 5-101. This does not necessarily mean you have 3 years to file with your insurance company, and most claims should be filed far sooner than this.
Can You Sue for Denial of an Underinsured Motorist Insurance Claim in Maryland?
If your own insurance company gives you the runaround or fails to pay you the damages they owe you for a UIM claim, then you can often take your insurance company to court. This statute of limitations is typically the same as an injury statute of limitations in Maryland, giving you 3 years to sue your insurance company. However, this cause of action accrues not on the date of your car accident, but on the date of the breach of contract – i.e., the date the insurance company denies your claim.
If you file before the claim is denied, you might need to show that your insurance company has already committed another mistake or error, such as what’s known as bad faith insurance. Insurance companies have a duty to make a good faith effort to carry out the terms of their insurance policies. If they refuse to answer your calls, give you a runaround, delay your case without good reason, or try to say that your policy was inactive or canceled without actual proof of this, they might be breaching that duty of good faith. This allows a claim against them even if they never actually got around to denying your claim and just gave you the runaround.
In either case, the goal is to get your UIM claim paid in full, with the insurance company paying the original money they should have paid by now. You may also be able to claim interest on this delayed money, and punitive damages might be available if your insurance carrier’s actions were especially egregious.
UM/UIM Coverage in Maryland
UM coverage kicks in when the driver is uninsured or when there is no driver you can sue. For example, hit and run accidents might be filed as UM claims given that there is no driver with insurance present to file a claim against. Otherwise, UM insurance is traditionally meant to kick in when the other driver broke the law and failed to carry auto insurance.
UIM, on the other hand, covers your accident when the other driver’s insurance is too low for your case. Maryland drivers need to have liability insurance covering at least $30,000 per person for injury, $60,000 per accident for injury, and $15,000 per accident for property damage under the state’s minimum insurance rules. On top of this, you might have $2,500 worth of PIP coverage, though you can opt out of this insurance. With state minimums, this means you might be able to get $32,500 for injuries, so if your claim is worth more than this, you likely need your UIM coverage.
In Maryland, UM insurance is required, and it also includes underinsured motorist coverage. This means that if you have insurance, this coverage will be available to you. State minimums for UM/UIM are the same as liability insurance, meaning there should be at least another $30,000 per person for injury to cover you.
Call Our Maryland Car Accident Lawyers for Help
Call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 for a free case assessment with our Baltimore car accident lawyers today.