Victims Ask Kansas Lawmakers To Increase Coverage Limits

Tommie Burton was driving through Wichita one night during a power outage when he witnessed an elderly man and his grandson on horseback get hit by a car.

As the driver fled the scene, Burton and another person rendered aid to the severely injured victims, the oldest of whom died from his injuries. Another car then drove through the accident scene, hitting all four people.

Burton on Monday told a legislative committee he awoke in an ambulance. His back and left femur were broken. His knee was fractured. The medical costs would exceed $120,000.

Because he couldn't work, he lost his job. His marriage suffered, eventually ending in divorce.

Police eventually tracked down the driver that hit Burton and the others, but the man's liability insurance only covered $25,000, a small percentage of Burton's costs.

More than 20 people joined Burton in testifying before the seven- member Special Committee on Insurance on whether the state should increase the minimum limit on automobile insurance coverage. Insurers, traffic accident victims and the sponsor of a bill, Rep. Ramon Gonzalez, R-Perry, appeared before the committee.

Under existing law, the minimum policy coverage limits for an accident is $25,000 for bodily injury or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more people, and $10,000 for property damage, according to the Kansas Legislative Research Department. The limits haven't changed since 1984.

"It is beyond a reasonable time to visit this outdated legislation," Gonzalez told committee members. His bill, House Bill 2067, was heard but not acted on in February by the House Committee on Insurance.

On Monday, the Special Committee on Insurance recommended raising the minimum limit on property but not on people, a disappointment to many of the victims of traffic accidents who testified during the lengthy hearing.

Gonzalez began researching the minimum limits after a constituent, Oskaloosa veterinarian Carl Meyer, was struck by a car traveling 60 mph as he drove his tractor on US-59 highway. The driver was asleep at the wheel, Meyer testified Monday.

Though his medical expenses remained less than $25,000, Meyer had to spend $10,000 of his own money to repair his tractor because the $10,000 minimum for property covered only half of the cost.

"The governing bodies of our state are charged with the protection of its citizens from such inefficiencies and, once pointed out, are ethically bound to act and correct them," Meyer wrote in written testimony to the committee.

Dustin DeVaughn, a personal injury lawyer in Wichita, shared the stories of several clients, including Burton, who were injured in accidents and unable to receive adequate restitution to cover their medical costs.

"It turns their world upside down," he said.

DeVaughn recommended increasing the minimums to $50,000 for injury to one person and $100,000 for the injury of two or more. Will Larson, an attorney for the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents, agreed, noting those are the same limits the Legislature placed on ride-sharing company Uber.

A majority of those testifying Monday were in favor of raising the minimums. Opponents included several insurance groups and rental car giant Enterprise.

"While I appreciate the intentions of the proponents, I believe that passage will have the unintended consequences of more drivers going with less coverage or without any coverage at all," said Christine Peterson, a group controller for Enterprise in Kansas, in written testimony to the committee.

Peterson said an increase would lead to higher costs for renting cars in the state as rental companies pass their additional expenses on to consumers.

Melanie French, a spokeswoman for Overland Park-based Key Insurance Company, said passage of Gonzalez's legislation would lead to "the advent of drastic price increases."

"While there are a lot of measures that could be considered by this committee to improve the state of automobile insurance in Kansas, increasing the statutory minimum limits is not one of them," French said in written testimony.

Tim Tyner, of Tyner Insurance Group, disputed this claim, estimating that monthly premiums will increase by an average of just $4.61.

The Kansas Legislature has considered increasing the limits in the past, but to no avail. A 1989 bill would have increased the limits to $50,000 for a single victim, $100,000 for two or more, and $20,000 for property. A 1995 bill would have done the same. Legislation introduced in 1998 would have made the limits $100,000, $200,000 and $40,000, according to the Kansas Legislative Research Department. The last attempt to raise the limits in 2012 included proposed increases similar to those recommended Monday.

The post Victims Ask Kansas Lawmakers To Increase Coverage Limits appeared first on SuperShare.Info.

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