If you are involved in a car accident with a driver who has no car insurance or whose car insurance is insufficient, you may find yourself facing unwelcome expenses. It is important to have uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance to protect you if such an event occurs.
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Uninsured motorist coverage is required in some states, but not in others. It depends, therefore, on the law of the state in which you live whether your car insurance will protect you if you are involved in an accident with a driver who has no car insurance at all or insufficient to cover costs. If uninsured motorist coverage insurance is not automatically included in your car insurance, you can elect to pay a little extra and take it out, for the sake of the peace of mind it will bring you.
With uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance, you have the comfort of knowing your insurance company will pay the cost of expenses that a driver without car insurance is unable to pay if you are involved in an accident. This type of car insurance will probably not cover all the expenses involved, but will go a long way towards helping you meet your costs. Medical bills and loss of wages are among the expenses you should be able to claim through your uninsured motorist coverage, which will certainly help make life easier. At the same time, you need to be aware that any punitive damages resulting from an accident will probably not be covered by uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
Underinsured motorist coverage differs from uninsured motorist coverage in that the person who was responsible for the accident has some car insurance, but not enough to cover the costs that result for you. The insurance of the person who caused the crash may, for example, pay $20,000 for each person injured, but your expenses may amount to $50,000 or more. The underinsured motorist coverage therefore results in a shortfall that you will have difficulty obtaining unless you had the forethought to take out uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance.
If you have uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance in the scenario described, you will first be able claim the $20,000 from the person who caused the accident. Then, rather than going to the expense and trouble of trying to get the remainder from the same person, who probably would not have enough money to pay it anyway, your uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance allows you to claim at least the difference from your car insurance company. Various states have different rules about how this type of car insurance operates. Some will allow you to add on the other person’s insurance limit to the full amount of your costs, so in the example given, you could collect a total of $70,000. In other states, you would have to subtract the $20,000 from your amount, giving you a maximum of $30,000 to claim from the insurance company. In either case, with uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance, you will have the full cost of your expenses.
There are two type of uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance you can take out. One is bodily injury coverage. This provides you with uninsured motorist coverage or underinsured motorist coverage, if you or a passenger is injured as the result of an accident caused by a driver who has no car insurance or whose insurance is insufficient to cover the resulting expenses. These expenses could include medical bills and loss of wages.
The other type of uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance that can benefit you is property damage coverage. If the at-fault driver has no car insurance or has not taken out enough to cover the damage to your vehicle, this type of uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance can help you in such cases. It should not be confused with personal injury protection, an insurance coverage that pays your medical bills if you are involved in an accident. This type of insurance may not be needed if you have medical insurance, although it may be compulsory in states with no-fault laws. Some states also require drivers to take out uninsured / underinsured motorists insurance, but even if they don’t, it is a sensible way to protect yourself from the expense and worry that could arise from an accident with a driver with insufficient car insurance coverage.