A group of more than 20 people—comprised of insurers, victims of auto accidents, and State Rep. Ramon Gonzales—appealed to the Special Committee on Insurance this month to convince the state to raise the minimum requirement on automobile liability insurance coverage.
Under existing law, $25,000 is the minimum policy coverage limit for an accident resulting in bodily injury or the death of a single person, $50,000 for two or more people, and $10,000 for property damage. These limits have not changed since 1984.
“It is beyond a reasonable time to visit this outdated legislation,” Gonzales remarked to the committee members.
Gonzales previously sought to pass House Bill 2067 this past February, which aimed to raise minimum motor vehicle liability insurance policy limits, but it was not acted on.
On Monday, the committee recommended increasing the minimum limit on property, but not on people, upsetting the victims of vehicular accidents who testified that day.
“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,” one of the victims wrote to the committee.
A Wichita-based personal injury lawyer named Dustin DeVaughn told the committee how several of his clients, who were involved and injured in auto accidents, were unable to receive sufficient recompense to cover their medical expenses.
He then recommended increasing the minimums to $50,000 for injury to one person and $100,000 for the injury of two or more people. Kansas Association of Insurance Agents attorney Will Larson agreed to the increases, and he pointed out that similar limits were imposed on the popular transportation network company Uber.
The appeal was met with opposition by a number of insurance groups and Enterprise, a rental car company.
Opponents to the appeal cite possible price increases in insurance coverage and rental fees should the changes be effected.
