Death Benefits in Auto Insurance
Do you realize that most car insurance companies do not pay a death benefit in the case of a fatal automobile accident? One local family in Athens Pennsylvania learned the hard way in September when their 22-year-old daughter Stephanie lost control of her car and was fatally injured. Her full coverage from a nation wide automobile insurance company did not pay the funeral expenses for the young woman.
This is a very good reason specifically to ask your automobile insurance company if they have a death benefit in case a death occurs. This way your family is not left having to come up with the host cost of burial and other related expenses in their time of grief as Stephanie’s family has.
Stephanie came from an average small town American family and was in college, as is her younger sister Jen. Both girls worked in addition to college to pay their own way, with a little help from their parents. Both girls paid their own automobile insurance for this nation wide company and though they were covered. Their automobile insurance is from the same company their parents have used for years.
At the risk of litigation, I will not name this insurance company but I bet you can guess the name. If you have auto insurance that moves forward rather than stay behind you have the same one. In my way of thinking if you do carry full insurance you assume, you are covered every possible way. However, you may not be, so check the small print so your family is not paying funeral expenses out of pocket.
Stephanie’s parents have had to come up with all of these related funeral expenses out of pocket. Mother Missy is a home health aide and her father is a truck driver, like most Americans they do not have tons of extra cash sitting around for unexpected expenses such as this. No family such have to pay for such expenses when they have full coverage otherwise. The community had rallied around this family and held a benefit to raise some funds to help the family.
Missy is doing many interviews locally to inform the public about the fine print of the automobile insurance company she deal with. She wants to make sure that no other families have to endure the hardship of an insurance company while dealing with the loss of a child. I am quietly doing my share to help Missy and her family to get the word out there. Missy is more than just another family, she is a neighbor, and Jen the younger daughter had been here often. My heart still goes out to this family on the loss of their oldest daughter.
You will find very sparse information on this topic, because the companies do not want it to be known. If you are one of the families who learns of this first hand, than you feel the need to get the word out there so the public knows. Forward this article to anyone you know who had automobile insurance company and bug them to check their own policy so they are not caught unexpectedly.
Death coverage on auto insurance policies does not exist.
