Did you know that you can’t sue your spouse if you are injured while a passenger in a car accident due to your spouse’s negligence while driving? As there are situations where you have to do this, tell your insurance agent you want a spouse negligence endorsement.

Watch out! If you get into an accident while you are DWI (i.e. .08% blood alcohol content or higher), you will not only get arrested but your insurance company may disclaim coverage. Check your policy to see if it has a DWI exclusion.

After an accident, call your car insurance company and ask for a “No-Fault Application”. Fill out the application and return it by certified mail, within 30 days of the accident after it has been sent in to our office for our review and approval. If the application is not received by the insurance company within the 30 days they can disclaim coverage and deny your medical benefits. This is important because, by law, they have to pay up to $50,000 in medical coverage, for which there is no lien on any recovery for personal injury my firm gets for you. If your private insurance pays, there may be a lien on your portion of the recovery if it is an ERISA Plan. If you have a motorcycle, get the No-Fault endorsement, as otherwise your policy has minimal or no medical coverage.

New York State mandated minimum no-fault medical coverage is $50,000. Get an extra $25,000 in Optional Basic Economic Loss (OBEL) and $100,000 in Additional Personal Injury Protection (APIP) coverage. Again, it’s ridiculously cheap, and the extra $125,000 coverage can be critical. Remember, you can easily incur $100,000 in hospital bills if you, or an occupant of your car, is seriously injured.