Burnet County mulls asking at-fault drivers for autopsy reimbursement
STAFF WRITER CONNIE SWINNEY
BURNET — Burnet County officials will take a closer look at the likelihood of reimbursement for autopsies ordered in fatal vehicle crashes from at-fault drivers.
Burnet County Judge James Oakley said the county attorney and auditor are working on “identifying wrecks where county expense is involved.”
“I don’t believe that the taxpayers should be responsible for the expenses incurred by an at-fault driver if they have the required insurance,” he said. “When there is a vehicle accident and at-fault driver identified, if that driver has the liability insurance required by state law, then the county should be able to re-coup some expenses that the county has incurred because of the at-fault driver.”
Autopsies are approximately $2,900 and can be ordered by a district judge, a justice of the peace, a medical director, or a municipal judge in the event of a death to find out details such as cause and time of death as well as positive identification of the deceased.
Members of the insurance industry say, upon further research, that challenges arise when considering re-assigning cost of autopsies from taxpayers to insurance entities.
“Autopsy expense in my opinion was never contemplated under the policy,” said Raymond Whitman of Whitman Insurance in Marble Falls. “If this becomes a common practice, I am certain the rates will increase to cover the additional exposure.”
Whitman explained that if such a practice were regulated or required of insurance companies, it might fall under the “bodily injury” portion of a policy, perhaps in the “supplemental payments” section.
“Yes, it is feasible that autopsies could be covered under the policy,” he said. “I personally think that the insurance industry will introduce an exclusion so there is no gray area and specifically exclude autopsies.”
The state’s minimum limit of liability is $30,000 per person injured — $60,000 for bodily injury.
“If there was enough bodily injury to cause a fatality, that limit will be paid to the deceased person’s family, and there would be no money left in the list to pay for the autopsy so the county would have to pick up the expense or sue the victim’s or perpetrator’s family for the money,” Whitman said. “That is probably why this has never been an issue before.”
2 thoughts on “Burnet County mulls asking at-fault drivers for autopsy reimbursement”
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What would happen in cases where someone had their vehicle stolen and the perp was at fault but died? Should the owner of the vehicle have their insurance pay for it? What if the perp was an illegal and was at fault?
While I don’t take issue with Oakley’s assessment, what about the same responsibility from those without insurance?
Isn’t driving with insurance a state requirement? Why should those who drive irresponsibly not be held to the same standard?
Dave Rhodes