Having only the minimum liability limits on his NYS auto insurance policy, NY Islander’s forward Matt Moulson is being sued after injuring another person in a 2010 auto accident. But who is to blame…Moulson or his insurance agent?

The attorney representing the other injured driver involved in the crash said, “He’s either clueless or cheap.” Now that very well may be true, but there’s a second scenario to think about when you consider most people don’t know the first thing about auto insurance: Did Moulson’s insurance agent (GEICO in this case) advise him that his policy limits were low?

Further, what insurance agent in their right mind would write an auto policy for a millionaire with only $25K/$50K/$10K in limits? Did GEICO not know who their client was? Did GEICO not realize what his net worth was? Did the underwriter at GEICO not know his occupation or net worth either? Also, why did GEICO list Moulson’s home address on the policy as the Nassau Coliseum? Did the GEICO agent really think Moulson slept in the arena? Interesting isn’t it?

Moreover, even if Moulson was “cheap” and refused to take recommended limits as per his insurance agent’s recommendation, why on earth would his agent write the policy? If I were in his agent’s shoes, I would have walked away from the case…regardless of the fact that Moulson is a star in the NHL. It’s not worth the risk of being sued, which Moulson will likely do if he was in fact misinformed by GEICO.

As a broker professional, any client/potential client of mine that has a net worth of $5 million or more would be presented with the following auto insurance limits at the minimum:

-$250K/$500K/$100K (Bodily Injury/Property Damage coverage)
-$250K/$500K (Supplemental Uninsured Motorist coverage)
-An umbrella policy of no less than a $5 million liability limit

This is a textbook example of how an insurance agent underinsured a client. It will be interesting to see how this case unfolds…for GEICO that is.

JEANE MacINTOSH is a writer for the NY Post. The link to the full story can be found here