Although you may be an excellent driver and low risk of causing an accident, it can not be said for every driver on the road in Alberta. The most conflicting claims are those caused by others when you are absolutely no fault. If this happens, you can at least take comfort in knowing that their insurance will pick up the bill for your injuries and property damage, right?
Wrong.
Although the vast majority of Alberta drivers wear decent insurance with limits of liability of $ 1,000,000 +, there are several notable exceptions that can leave you with a significant financial burden without fault your own. The first is that the driver may not have sufficient limits to cover your injuries and serious property damage, or they may have injured a number of providers so that their policy will be quickly exhausted. Then you could be hit by an unknown driver who fled the scene, leaving you hurt and not knowing who caused the loss. Unfortunately, no other witnesses, it is rare for the police to track down the party at fault in a hit-and-run.
Worst of all, you could be hit by someone without insurance at all. This, unfortunately, is the most common result and most undesirable of all. Although the penalties are stiff Alberta (minimal fined $ 2,875, even at the first offense), about 10-15% of drivers choose to drive without insurance cover legally mandated liability. In some provinces, such as Ontario, and in many US states, that number is even higher (up to approx. 1-4 drivers in Florida). As a result, these drivers are often those who have trouble getting insurance because of their poor driving record (DUI, license suspension, etc.) or who are unable to afford it. This means that if you are hit by one of these drivers, even if you are legally allowed to continue for any damages caused, good luck to collect a judgment.
There are several ways to protect yourself. With collision coverage, your physical loss to your vehicle is covered, regardless of who is at fault. Regarding the injury, it is more complicated, but the basic coverage is also provided in Section B of accident benefits, which required in Alberta. Unfortunately, it is limited to a number of ways, including a maximum total payable of only $ 50,000 under this article. If you are seriously injured and off work for a significant amount of time, the accident benefits are not likely to cover you properly for your loss.
Fortunately, there is also coverage available under the SEF 44 endorsement Protection of family, as well as the uninsured motorist Alberta Fund. In case after obtaining a legal judgment, you are not able to recover from an uninsured driver responsible, underinsured or unidentified, you can go to recover Fund (up $ 0,000) and to the SEF 44 coverage for any balance remaining after. The limit on your SEF 44 is the limit of the coverage of the liability, so it would typically be $ 1,000,000, $ 2,000,000 or more. Considering that this rider is often less than $ 4 per month, it provides a significant amount of protection against the most at-risk drivers on the road, people without adequate coverage.
If you want more information, or to confirm that you are well protected, speak to one of our brokers today
0 Komentar