Mississippi Lawyer Blog

In Mississippi, 28% of all drivers do not have insurance. So out of every 7 cars you pass on the road, 2 cars do not have any insurance! This is the highest percentage of uninsured drivers in the United States.

It's important that you double check your insurance policy for "uninsured motorist coverage". This is the part of your auto policy that protects you from an uninsured driver.

Make sure that your uninsured motorist coverage is equal to your liability coverage. Many insurance agents will give you a lower uninsured motorist coverage amount, but since this is the part of the policy that protects you, you want the maximum coverage available.

If you have small children, boys especially, then you have no doubt seen one of the Mr. Bean movies. Rowan Atkinson, the Mr. Bean actor, was involved in a minor car accident recently when his McLaren F1 sports car spun out and hit a tree. (Dang, Mr. Bean is making some serious bucks to be able to afford a McLaurin. One F1 recently sold for $4 million!) Fortunately for Mr. Atkinson, and Bean fans everywhere, he only suffered minor injuries.

We get calls all the time from folks who have minor car accidents with no bodily injury. Their car, however, is totaled. The problem arises with their insurance company. I recently had a family friend tell me that one of their relatives was in a car accident which was clearly the other person's fault. The other driver's insurance company admitted this BUT said the accident was because of "bad weather" and would not pay anything!

Continue reading "What Mississippians can learn from "Mr. Bean's" Car Accident" »

I have been thinking lately about all the tragedies we have been witnessing around American. Mother Nature has been very active and harsh on people. There was the tornado in Clinton and Quitman, MS. There were more tornadoes in Alabama that devastated the Tuscaloosa area and then the horrific tornado in Missouri. There are floods all along the Mississippi River and its upland tributaries, and then catastrophic fires in Arizona and other western states. I should not have to mention Katrina-the mother of all hurricanes that destroyed New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The non profit organization United Policyholders conducted a study and determined that 60% of all homes in America are underinsured. This conclusion coincided with the report from the insurance industry sources. The home is probably the largest investment a person has these days and having it underinsured can result in a terrible financial tragedy.

I am an attorney who helps people with insurance problems and other kids of legal disputes. I have a love-hate relationship with insurance. I know a person needs insurance for various things in life, but I also see the way many insurance companies treat their policyholders when a claim in filed. If you remember nothing else from this article remember this: Your insurance company is out to make MONEY. Insurance companies did a study years ago when they wanted to make more money and the conclusion was that to make more money they needed to pay out less in claims. You could be one of the people who don't get paid what you deserve if you are not careful.

I strongly recommend everyone join United Policyholders. It is a nonprofit company that has a wealth of information on insurance products. United Policyholders has many useful tips on how to pick a good insurance agent, how to insure your house, and so much more that can help you "level the playing field" when dealing with an insurance company or claims adjuster. There is even a website that will help you determine if you have your house insured for enough and it only costs $7.00. It does take time though to correctly fill out the information.

We are going to talk more in this series about the many different types of insurance and what a reasonable person might need and not need. We are not insurance agents and cannot advise you what to do when insuring you property or self. We can however give you advice on what we have seen and what Federal Agencies and other nonprofit groups have reported on different types of insurance.

When you have some spare time pull up the United Policyholders' website and join. You can obtain so much free information. Joining is making a small contribution so United Policyholders can continue doing work that will benefit everyone who buys insurance products. And once you spend some time on the United Policyholders' website, you will find yourself a more educated insurance buyer.

Other parts of this series will focus on auto insurance, umbrella coverage, credit life, credit disability, and types of credit insurance. We have been actively involved in many types of insurance litigation and can help educate you on things to watch for when buying insurance.

Continue reading "INSURANCE NEEDS FOR YOUR HOME, CAR, BOAT, AND OTHEr THINGS. Part 1 " »

I'll bet you don't know anyone who has ever collected on title insurance. It seems expensive, no one wants to pay for it and many people today would say it is not needed. But the turmoil in today's real estate market makes having title insurance even more important. Mortgage fraud, fake mortgage documents and the recent robo-signing scandal make title insurance an absolute necessity these days.

Due to sloppy record keeping, sloppy foreclosure procedures and plain old mortgage fraud you will need title insurance to protect you from heavy losses and maybe losing your home. Due to recent court rulings, if you bought a foreclosed property there is a good chance that the property could revert back to the previous owner with no compensation to you.

Title insurance protects you, the rightful owner, if there are liens or prior claims on the property you own. Mississippi Chancery Clerks and County officials across the nation are discovering forged loan documents in their files. Given today's reliance on easily altered computer data, title insurance is crucial if you want to protect your Mississippi property ownership.

As thousands of residents in both Mississippi and Louisiana brace for a disaster which rivals the historic 1927 Flood, let's hope that their insurance companies don't inflict a second disaster by denying their insurance claims.

If you are involved in a flood, your insurance policy should advise you on the steps to take to make a claim. This Government website has a step by step procedure to follow.

If you have a flood at your business premises or commercial premises it can have a devastating affect - both structurally and financially. In these circumstances it is important to make sure you get the right compensation from your insurance company. In this short article we will look at the best way to achieve this - and hopefully keep your business afloat long after the flood has subsided.

When flood hits your business and you have to make a flood damage claim there are a number of factors that will determine how much compensation you think you might receive. There is the obvious damage to your premises and the damage that is caused after the flood, there is the loss of profit that your business will undoubtedly suffer and finally there is the trauma that is caused to both you and your staff. However if the figure you receive falls below your expectations it can often spell the end for a lot of businesses. The best way to avoid this is to employ a loss assessor.

Your insurance company will have already appointed a loss adjuster to make sure they have to pay out as little as possible with regards to your flood insurance claim. The loss adjuster works for the insurance company and although they have to give fair recommendations they are not accountable to you. If you and your business appoint a loss assessor you will be sure of getting a fair outcome from your flood damage claim. The loss assessor is employed by you, works for you and has your interests in mind at all times. A loss assessor will bring all the expertise and knowledge that you would have been lacking if you tried to process the claim yourself.

By employing a loss assessor to sift through all the minor details you can be sure that your insurance company will not sell you short on your compensation. The loss assessor will fill in all the necessary paperwork pertaining to your flood damage claim making sure nothing is missed out - and in doing so is securing a better financial future for your business. You are essentially making sure that the argument over what is due to your company is played out fairly and that you receive adequate compensation in the event of a flood.

Continue reading "Will Insurance Companies Pay Mississippi Flood Claims?" »