| Personal Injury Protection under No-Fault Automobile Coverage |
|
| Personal injury protection ("PIP"), also known as ''no-fault benefits'' or first-party benefits, coverage is an extension of automobile insurance coverage. It pays, up to a certain amount, an insured's health care expenses and other damages, like lost wages and income continuation benefits, due to an automobile accident regardless of who was at fault. Several no-fault automobile insurance states require drivers to carry PIP coverage. In some states, insurance companies are required to offer PIP coverage. Insureds can then purchase it, if they choose. More... |
|
|
| Tort Liability of Owners/Operators of Commercial Motor Vehicles |
|
| The potential tort liability of owners and operators of commercial motor vehicles implicates a number of unique legal issues. These range from some that are more obvious, such as the simple increase in the kinds and extent of risks of personal injury and property damage that arise from commercial vehicle use in contrast to the operation of private vehicles, the numbers of operators and numbers and types of vehicles involved in commercial activities, and the so-called "deep pockets" of business entities that make them more susceptible to having tort actions brought against them, to less immediately apparent matters such as the existence, in some jurisdictions, of a legal presumption, which would have to be affirmatively overcome by the persuasive evidence of a commercial vehicle owner, that the operator of a commercial vehicle is in fact the employee or agent of the owner at the time the vehicle is involved in an incident giving rise to potential tort liability. More... |
|
|
| Punitive Damages in Automotive Products Liability Actions |
|
| A plaintiff in an automotive products liability action is generally required to prove that a motor vehicle as sold contained a defect in its design, in the way in which it was manufactured or assembled, or in the failure to warn of a risk inherent in its operation that created an unreasonable risk of death, personal injury, or property damage when the vehicle was used for its intended purpose and that the defect caused an accident or similar incident, such as a vehicle fire, that resulted in the loss or damage for which the plaintiff seeks to recover damages. Because proof of the existence of such conditions does not involve passing judgment on the conduct of the manufacturer, but merely on the status of the vehicle as sold, the plaintiff in such a case can ordinarily recover only his or her actual damages, which can include economic losses and damages for non-economic losses based on the jury's determination of the dollar value of the pain and suffering resulting from the accident. Sometimes, though, the manufacturer's conduct in dealing with the alleged vehicle defect becomes an issue in the case, and the plaintiff may then attempt to recover punitive damages in addition to the actual damages suffered. More... |
|
|
| Interaction of Collision and Comprehensive Coverage in Auto Insurance Policies |
|
| Collision coverage and comprehensive coverage in policies of motor vehicle insurance are interrelated with one another, as both types of coverage are intended to protect an owner or operator against loss resulting from damage to a covered vehicle itself rather than insuring against legal liability for personal injury or property damage suffered by others that results from operation of the covered vehicle. More... |
|
|
| Arbitration for Motor Vehicle Insurance Disputes |
|
| Arbitration (which is sometimes referred to as a type of Alternative Dispute Resolution, or ADR) is a procedure in which the parties to a dispute, for example, parties who disagree about some aspect of a motor vehicle insurance policy, voluntarily submit the issues they are unable to agree upon to the judgment of one or more disinterested persons, called arbitrators, and agree to abide by the judgment of the arbitrators, which is called an award. One significant thing to note about arbitration is that it takes place outside the court system and so can be conducted less formally and with less expense than a traditional judicial proceeding. More... |
|
|