In car accident cases involving serious injuries, insurance limits may be a live issue. In Nova Scotia, residents are required to carry a minimum of $500,000 in third-party liability insurance. Although this sounds like a significant sum of money, cases may exceed this limit when an individual suffers a permanent disability or when they are unable to return to their place of employment. For example, a claim by a 25-year-old who is disabled from working for the rest of their working career, even if working a minimum wage job, would exceed this limit as it relates to a claim for future income loss.
In our practice, we see most drivers in Nova Scotia carrying $1,000,000 in third party liability insurance. Some drivers carry $2,000,000. Some insured vehicles do not have insurance limits. While it is important you know the third-party liability insurance limit when seriously injured, unlike other provinces, there is no requirement for the insurance company to disclose these limits to you.
The insurance limits are important to know, because if the damage claim exceeds what the policy will pay out, you may have to tap into what is known as “excess insurance” through an SEF44 insurance policy. If there is no excess insurance, there may be practical problems receiving any damage award over and above what the insurance carrier is required to pay under the policy.
If you do run into problems having insurance limits disclosed to you, there are strategies that can be employed to get this information out of the third-party insurance company. If you are having difficulty getting the insurance company to disclose limits, feel free to call one of our personal injury lawyers. We can walk you through some steps you can take to attempt to get the insurer to disclose this information.