It’s the worst thing that has happened.
It’s almost the worst. Your child calls you to let you know that he was driving on his own. “Uh…hello mom. “I was in an accident.”
Your child was able call you, but you need to ask “Are your okay?”
You start to wonder about other possible participants.
“Was there anyone riding with me?”
“Was anyone ever hurt?”
“What about the other driver? What about anyone else in their car?”
You feel overwhelmed and realize this could be the most distressing phone call you have ever received. Your child is fine. Unfortunately, someone else may not be okay. It’s because your child is negligent.
We pray that you don’t get this call, or any other call telling you that your child has been injured in an accident.
What happens if you get a call like that? What happens if you are seriously injured or property is damaged? Are you protected? You are protected against a lawsuit. You could lose everything you’ve worked so hard for.
You and I cannot put a price on someone’s lives. How can you pay the family of someone who is paralysed or killed in a car accident or care for them if they are still alive?
Here are the consequences. You will have to pay. If you don’t have adequate insurance, the courts will determine how much you will be charged and how long it will take.
This is serious, and I don’t want to sound so harsh, but it is something you should consider, especially if you have a inexperienced driver.
How can you ensure your safety?
Find an insurance agency that specializes in protecting teens and their families. Family insurance specialists understand the unique needs of families with teens and can help you protect yourself in case they cause an accident.
Ask the agent to do a 21-point review of your home and car insurance policies. This should be done for both your home and car insurance policies. You will also need an umbrella policy, which is the most important policy a parent should have for a teenager driver. This policy offers additional coverage to cover major events, such as a large lawsuit that could leave you devastated. This policy, as its name suggests, provides an umbrella of coverage that covers all your other policies, including your home.
After a 21-point protection review, you’ll likely find that you are not adequately insure. Don’t be shocked. Most families with teens drivers are not insured and don’t find out about it until something happens. It’s understandable that parents are hesitant to trust agents who don’t specialize in protecting teens driving families. You don’t have to be afraid of being sued. This is a true story about someone who knew they needed protection but didn’t act.
My office was contacted by a long-standing client to add their 16-year old daughter to their car insurance. We suggested making changes to their policy, including increasing their liability coverage. The limit was $100,000 per person and $300,000. Per occurrence. This means that if he, or someone in his family, was found responsible for an accident, an insurance company would only pay $100,000 per person for personal injuries and $300,000.00 for all other injuries.
After a strong insistence, he refused our recommendations. This was even signed by him. His daughter, who was driving along the highway with her 2 friends in her small SUV, lost control of her car within the first year. The vehicle rolled three times over oncoming traffic, throwing her girlfriend in the back seat who wasn’t wearing her seatbelt.
She survived, but she spent more than three weeks in hospital with severe and permanent injuries. My client did not have sufficient coverage to cover the lawsuit that ensued. He said to me that nothing would ever happen. My daughter is responsible, and she’s a great driver. He is now responsible for the incident and will continue to be so for many years.
He could have saved his financial future by following my advice and buying an umbrella.