What would you guess is the most crucial document following a car accident, if you were to make a guess? If you are like the majority of people, you would assume it is the police report. That is untrue. You might infer that it is the driver who was at fault’s license number. Additionally, this is untrue.
The police report is significant, but it is not the most significant document. Even though it will probably be on the police record, you still need the at-fault party’s license number. What then is the subject of our discussion? The declarations page, often known as the “Dec” page, of your insurance policy. To obtain a free legal consultation, call Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 after reading on to find out why it is so crucial.
Discovering your declarations page
A one-page overview of your insurance coverage can be found on your Dec page. It may utilize abbreviations that are difficult for you to understand. However, the information on it can determine whether you win or lose your lawsuit. This is the reason it is one of the first things we ask a client to look at, and it also explains why many times our clients will A) Not know what it is and/or B) Not understand why it is important if the other party’s insurance company should be paying the claim.
In actuality, this has nothing to do with fault, and understanding it is straightforward. Do not try to find it by going through all of your documents. Do not go over every word of your insurance contract in search of it. Just give your insurance agent a call and request a faxed or email copy of your Dec page instead. After that, send that to your personal injury attorney.
We can learn a lot from the Dec page
We can discover a lot by looking at the Dec page for your policy. We can first determine whether you have to run up an unpaid medication. Why? Because a little box on the Dec page will say “med pay” next to it. This is a condensed version of the phrase “medical payment coverage.” It typically costs $5,000. If you have that coverage, you can go anywhere for treatment, and your physician will submit a claim to your insurance company immediately.
If the at-fault motorist has no insurance or has inadequate insurance, the Dec page can also indicate if your claim is likely to be successful. Although it is required by law for all drivers on Californian roadways to have insurance, not everyone abides by this rule. Remember that even if the other party has provided you with a copy of their insurance card, it could not be accurate. They might have been charged late or their insurance might have been canceled.
How much you should worry about this will be revealed on your Dec page. Hopefully, the box there has been checked. “UM” stands for uninsured motorist coverage. If you have coverage, your claim will probably be reimbursed, whether it is by your own insurance company or the insurance of the car who hit you.
