Have You Lost A Loved One In An Accident?

A few weeks prior to taking the bar exam, Paul Hogan of The Law Center for Car Accident Injuries in Wichita, Kansas lost his mother in a car accident. Paul knows all too well what you may be feeling. Call 866-303-1411 if you want to talk with him and he can discuss your most burning questions. There is no obligation. Ask for Paul.

No Amount Of Money Can Take Away The Pain Of Loss

Yet that is exactly the remedy our civil laws attempt to do, put a money figure to compensate for the pain of your loss.

DEDICATED TO PERSONAL INJURY LAW IN KANSAS

I’m sorry to hear of the unexpected loss of your loved one. It is not my intent to intrude during this time of grief and I want to give you information which may be of use to you now.

Where there is a death in an automobile accident in Kansas, in most cases, personal-injury benefits apply.  These benefits are:

  • Funeral, burial or cremation expenses not to exceed $2,000 per individual (Kansas law KSA 40-3103).
  • Survivor benefits of a spouse or child under the age of 18, where the death resulted from injury.  The benefit is based upon a determination of monthly wages, and up to a maximum of not less than $900 per month for up to a maximum of one year.
  • There are five potential sources for setting up this claim:
    • If the deceased owned a car, and if the deceased was a named insured on an automobile liability policy issued in Kansas, call the insurance agent, or the insurance company, to set up your claim.
    • If number 1 does not apply then call the insurance company that issued a policy for the car to set up your claim.
    • If number 1 and number 2 do not apply, determine if there is a blood relative living in the same household as the deceased who owns a car registered in the state of Kansas with insurance coverage – then funeral and/or survivor benefits are available under that policy.  Call that insurance company to give notice of you claim.
    • If numbers 1, 2 and 3 do not apply, make a claim for funeral and survivor benefits on the insurance policy of the car, and/or the policy for the driver of the car, which caused the collision and death.  Usually this is a frustrating and time wasting challenge, and it is easier to move to option number five.
    • In Kansas, we have an assigned claims plan; it is available for someone who dies in an uninsured vehicle which collided with an uninsured vehicle and does not live with a blood relative who owns an insured vehicle.  In this case you can obtain the forms necessary to make a claim from the Kansas Insurance Department.  Their website address is www.kaacp.org/pdf/kaacpform.pdf.

If you have any challenge obtaining or filling out the forms necessary to make this claim, or it is just too burdensome at this time, please call me and I will do this as my gift.  I will not charge you any type of fee. I do this willingly in an effort to help.

WHAT TO DO

  • If the bad driver’s insurance company has offered you their policy limits then request the offer in writing before you respond.
  • Next, check with your insurance carrier or any insurance carrier. For example, the automobile insurance carried by the blood relative living in the household of the deceased and determine the policy limits of those insurance policies.

HERE’S WHY

  • If you accept the bad drivers insurance written offer of their policy limits without obtaining the permission of any or all of the insurance carriers mentioned, and if they have coverage amounts greater than the bad driver’s insurance, you may forfeit the right to make a claim for what is known as an underinsured motorist claim.

THE HORRIBLE LAW

  • No matter how high the insurance policies coverage are, for example, $1 million or $10 million, the Kansas legislature decided for you that the most you can recover for your pain of loss (so-called non-economic loss) of your family member is $300,000. In other words, they placed a “cap” on your recovery for this element of your losses.

TIME LIMITS!

  • The law in Kansas sets forth a time span within which you either must settle your claims or file a lawsuit against the bad driver.
  • Usually this is a two-year period from the date of loss.
  • Please note that the time limitation date is different for minors and uninsured/underinsured claims.

A few weeks prior to taking the bar exam, I lost my mother in a car accident. I know all too well what you may be feeling. Call 866-303-1411 if you want to talk with me and we can discuss any questions you may have. There is no obligation. Ask for Paul.