FINALLY: A NEEDED CHANGE

April 9, 2015  |  John T. Buchman

Last session, the Minnesota legislature finally passed and Governor Dayton signed into law, a provision that increases some of the benefits available to victims of car crashes here in Minnesota. This was a long overdue increase to wage loss and funeral expense benefits under Minnesota No-Fault Act.
Minnesotans injured in car accidents have had, since the No-Fault Act was first created 40 years ago, the right to 85{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3} of any wage loss or income reduction due to injuries suffered in a car crash. However, for the last 30 years, that has been limited to a maximum of $250 a week. As a result, most wage earners could not survive long on $250 a week.
The No-Fault Act also provided $2,000 for families who had to pay the expenses of burying a loved one who was killed in a car crash.
The new law increases the maximum wage loss benefit to $500 a week. Additionally, the funeral expenses have been increased to $5,000 (which is still much less than the typical funeral cost of $8,000 – $10,000).
These new benefit amounts became effective January 1, 2015, for any collision occurring after that date or for any policies renewed after January 1, 2015. It is our position that this would apply to people that were involved in car crashes before January 1, 2015, when the policy is renewed any time in 2015.
This new law was the culmination of many years of effort by the Minnesota Association for Justice and legislators who understood the hardships posed by the outdated benefit limits. If you have any questions concerning these new benefits, please feel free to contact the law firm of Barna, Guzy & Steffen at 763-780-8500 or info@bgs.com.