How your Auto insurance would cover a death

Today kids, we are going to talk about death. Yes, this is a topic that I have steered clear of in the past. It doesn't seem to fit the fun insurance blog that I was trying to write. Oddly, it still doesn't fit the fun blog.  But, today I will cover the topic of Death Insurance!
This isn't a post about Life Insurance. That will be for another day. This is a post about what happens to you if you die in other manners. I was motivated by the Sunday's edition of the San Diego Union Tribune. When I turned to their Crime, Fire and Public Safety section almost all the headlines involved the death of someone in an accident. 
Here are the headlines from January 5, 2020. Happy New Year! "Teen Dead, 6 Others Hurt When Truck Overturns", "One Person Found Dead After Fire at Home in Encintas", "Male Driver, 36, Dies after Car Hits Light Pole in Solo Crash", "Man, 33, Killed When Car Slams into Parked Semi-Truck", "3 Struck, Injured by Car That Flees;, Driver Later Arrested".
The first headline is followed by a short story explained that a teenage driver took a turn too fast and rolled the truck over with five kids in the back. One of the five kids in the bed of the truck was thrown out and died. The other teens riding in the back were injured too. This is a classic scene from the 1980's and the reason laws were passed about carrying people in the bed of a truck. I think there are also limits on how many people teen drivers should carry in a car. 
Let's talk about the auto insurance implications for an accident like this. The Bodily Injury limits on his Auto Policy will be the primary focus in this claim. We are going to assume the driver who took the turn too fast was at fault. Let's say he had middle of the road coverage and had 100/300 for bodily injury. Here's how those limits would play out. The deceased teen would get $100,000. Pretty much any time there is a mortality the insurance company will max out the coverage. When you have 100/300 that means the accident will pay max per person of 100 thousand and max per accident 300 thousand. That means we now have $200,000 left to divide between the surviving teens. Per the report the remaining four kids suffered minor to moderate injuries. I wouldn't be surprised if the balance was divided equally with each kid getting about 50,000. The claims adjuster could also base the payout amounts from most injured to least injured. None of the injured teens would get more than the 100,000 and if the injuries were minor they could receive nothing. It really is the discretion of the adjuster.
The headline about a house fire and one person dies has less information. It states that one person in the home was found dead. But, it doesn't say who that person was. If for example the person was a guest staying at the home they could file a claim under the person's home liability insurance. If it was the owner or a family member of the owner there would be no claim against the home insurance. Part of the Home Insurance declaration pages state that you can't sue yourself. Your immediate family also can't sue you. 
The man who hit a light pole is probably out of luck in collecting any insurance coverage. Your Bodily Injury coverage is for other people, not for yourself. Hopefully, he has life insurance. 
The other man who died when his car hit the back of a truck is also probably out of luck. The truck he hit was parked so we can't blame the truck driver. Hopefully, this driver also had a life insurance policy in place.
The final headline where a car hit three people and took off had a happier ending. No one died in the accident. All three middle aged people were transported to a local hospital and were treated for moderate to more severe injuries. The best part was that the driver was later arrested for possible drunk driving and hit and run. Now, this driver's Bodily Injury limits would also pay out for the peoples injuries. Once again depending on what the insured's limits were would depend on how much the injured people could collect.
That's my wrap up of the headlines of death. I hope that you enjoyed this edition. Let me know if the gloomy side of insurance appeals to you. Call me for any insurance quotes at 951-395-0754.