Auto Insurance Exclusion Vetoed

When you are in an accident in Oregon, it is more beneficial to you to be in a stranger’s car than in someone’s you are related to per state law. For if you are in a stranger’s car you are entitled to all kinds of benefits, but not if you are in a loved ones car – for their auto insurance will not cover it.

The current law reads that you can get a maximum of $25,000 for any accident related injury from the auto insurance company if you are related to the person driving the car. You also cannot get missed paychecks or other costs reimbursed because you are in the same family. However, if you are in a stranger’s car, you can get up to $100,000 for your medical bills, and you can get the missed paychecks and other fees covered as well.

So lawmakers decided to do something about that, and they got rid of the “family member exclusion” in auto insurance policies. Basically what that means is that now no matter who is driving the car you can hit up their auto insurance company for pretty much everything you could only have gotten had you not been related to the driver.

The House voted 44-14 to get rid of the auto insurance exclusion, and now it is off to the Senate. The bill also includes a “pain and suffering” limit on the auto insurance policies if a loved one is at fault. If a man and woman are married and one of them is driving, and the driver is drunk, the other partner cannot collect more than $25,000 for pain and suffering.

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