Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Although nearly every state requires that drivers carry at least liability insurance for their cars, the fact is that many do not. In some cases, uninsured or underinsured drivers can cause damage to your car, and then either don’t have enough in their policy to cover the damage or don’t have a policy at all, leaving you with no way to recoup the cost of the damages. This is a strong case for buying insurance that includes uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.
The uninsured-underinsured provision is an add-on to the basic policy for an additional premium. You might think the provision is an unnecessary expense; however, it is well worth the cost if there is an accident. Although there are additional car insurance premium involved, the coverage will pay for itself in the event you are involved in an accident and the other driver is underinsured or uninsured. Obviously those are not ideal circumstances but it is good to know that you are covered just in case.
Ideally, every motorist should have uninsured motorist coverage, even though it is not required. This insurance coverage not only protects you the driver, but your passengers and anyone listed on the policy are covered if involved in an accident and the other driver is uninsured or is underinsured against damages. Your insurance under the uninsured motorist coverage will cover expenses such as: hospital, treatment, funeral services, car repairs or replacement costs, content damage, disability indemnity, etc. The limit for these expenses will be determined by the amount of your uninsured or under-insured limit in your automobile insurance policy.
This is especially important for drivers who only have liability insurance: although you’re insurance will cover any costs for property damage or personal injury that you may cause to yourself or another person if you are the at-fault driver, liability alone will not cover any damages caused by someone else.
The limits for this kind of coverage are generally similar to the other limits in your basic liability coverage. Some companies may have minimums required for uninsured motorist coverage, and some will allow you to increase your coverage to equal the limit on your liability coverage.
The uninsured-underinsured coverage includes provisions to protect you from the financial devastation that would result from having to bear the costs relative to an accident involving an inadequately insured driver and is a valuable stress reliever.
Your dollar-amount limits for this kind of policy is usually the same as your regular boundaries. Like with regular policies, some companies might have minimum and maximum amounts they require.
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