The day has arrived – December 22, 2013 – when Ohio’s new law raising financial responsibility limits for auto policies both newly issued and renewed takes effect.
After 44 years, the new law doubles Ohio’s longstanding minimum limits from $12,500/25,000/7,500 to $25,000/50,000/25,000. These new limits are the minimum amount of coverage a driver must carry for bodily injury or death to one person/bodily injury or death to more than one person/injury to property of others.
Although the law will cause higher premiums for the 5% of Ohio drivers currently carrying only minimum coverage, it protects us all in the event that we are injured as a result of another driver’s negligence in an auto collision. The Ohio Association for Justice (OAJ) deserves credit for persistently lobbying on the issue to protect Ohio’s injured drivers. “The prior limits were woefully inadequate to meet the expense of an auto accident,” OAJ’s John Van Doorn stated in a Cleveland.com article.
This new law marks the first step in a positive direction for our clients. The new minimums will help cover the significant medical bills and damage to vehicles incurred as a result of an auto crash. Additionally, when the law goes into effect, it will be illegal for an insurance company to have an “intra-family exclusion” in auto policies when a family member is injured/killed in the accident. This is another huge benefit for families who find themselves victims of the most tragic auto accidents.
The injury attorneys of Plevin & Gallucci and the Ohio Association for Justice will continue to advocate on behalf of Ohio’s injured victims. While we have much more to do, this is certainly a step in the right direction.
