Transportation
Obtaining Auto Insurance After Brain Injury
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Sometimes obtaining car insurance for a person with brain injury can be challenging. If the person with brain injury has a valid license and insurance coverage has not lapsed, he or she would just continue coverage. But from time to time insurance companies may send questionnaires asking for updates on personal information. Then there will be questions about current medical conditions that must be honestly answered. If a person with brain injury is applying as a new driver or if his license was revoked because of the injury, these questions will be asked prior to receiving coverage, making it more difficult to attain.
When completing a standard application or a follow up medical form, you must report the injury as well as the extent of complications and medications being used. Failure to disclose means the insurance company could deny that coverage was in effect in the event of a claim, and refuse payment. Honesty is the best policy.
Whenever there has been a brain injury, a thorough driving evaluation by a certified driver rehabilitation specialist (CDRS) is recommended. After going through this process, the applicant would have been cleared to drive by a physician, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and if required, the state medical board. Sometimes certain limitations may be placed on the driver by the DMVS based on the recommendations made by the physician and the evaluation by the CDRS. For example the driver may be restricted from driving at night, on the highway, or from driving a vehicle that does not have the adaptive equipment prescribed for safety.
This evaluation provides a professional opinion of the person’s driving ability, their judgment and their safety awareness. The insurance agent will then present this and all documentation relating to the person’s ability to drive to an underwriter. The underwriter will recommend whether or not to offer coverage and at what rate.
If the vehicle being considered for coverage has any costly structural modifications (such as a van with a raised roof, wheelchair ramp, etc.), the cost of those modifications should be factored into the replacement value of the vehicle. If not specifically included in the policy, then reimbursement would be made only for the replacement cost for the base vehicle in case of loss. Though this is likely to add to the cost of the policy (even if the vehicle is not being driven by the person with brain injury,) it is money well spent should the vehicle be stolen or destroyed.
By law, insurance companies are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of disability. They do, however, have the right to assign a risk factor to a particular person based on the individual’s driving record or negative statistics regarding a class of driver (eg. males ages 16 – 25). Insurance companies also have the right to refuse coverage if the company feels the risk is not one they want to assume.
An insurance company that has many years of experience with a family may be more inclined to give coverage. They may even allow the person to be added onto a parent’s policy. Some factors affecting that option would be the age of the driver and whether or not he or she lived at home.
If a person with brain injury or his family does not have a long-term relationship with a specific insurance company, they should look for an independent insurance agent who represents both standard and non-standard auto insurance companies. Rates for non-standard companies are often higher but may be the only option.
www.aded.net - Certified Rehabilitation Driver Specialists (CRDS)
www.nmeda.org - National Mobility Equipment Dealer's Association
www.Icanonline.net - Under Laws and Rights find local links to State Department of Motor Vehicles and other government agencies.
www.dmv-driving-record-search.com - Order driving record and car history
www.shepherd.org - Shepherd Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Beth Anderson is an occupational therapist, a certified driver rehabilitation specialist and a state licensed driving instructor. She has worked at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia for 15 years. Beth has presented on various driving topics at local and national conferences and is the author of a chapter on driving assessments in the textbook Spinal Cord Injury Medicine.