The Importance Of Uninsured Motorist Insurance
With the numerous insurance types available to people that can be purchased, long term disability, homeowner's insurance, life insurance and so forth, uninsured motorist insurance is often the most important. One type of insurance is "UM coverage", or "Uninsured Motorist" coverage, designed to provide benefits in the event that one is injured by an uninsured driver. Under insured motorist coverage provides a source of benefits in the event that an individual is injured by another driver whose insurance coverage is insufficient to adequately compensate the individual for his or her injuries and losses. To make sure you receive adequate compensation contact a Everett auto accident lawyer.
A simple hypothetical example illustrates the importance of this coverage. Imagine you are driving safely and within the speed limit An oncoming driver crosses into your lane and causes a collision. What if you are unable to work for a year or more due to your injuries? You are economically devastated by the accident, and you face a lifetime of pain and suffering and diminished function due to your injuries. Now imagine the driver at fault is not properly insured. If you have no UM coverage on your own auto policy, you will recover nothing, and you will be left to face the economic consequences of this other driver's irresponsible conduct without legal recourse. Now imagine that the other driver's insurance policy is only for the Pennsylvania state minimum of $15,000. If you do not have UIM coverage, you will be limited to the $15,000 recovery, which will not even begin to compensate you for what you've lost.
You can claim for financial losses and injuries against your insurance policy for the amount you paid for the UM or UIM coverage on your policy. For example you would be able to recover up to $500,000 in case of an accident if you had purchased a $500,000 of UM coverage and the other driver had no insurance. If the other driver was insured for only $15,000, you would have a potential fund of $500,000 over and above the other driver's $15,000 in coverage, which means you would be able to potentially recover a total of $515,000. If you need assistance in filing your claim contact a auto accident lawyer Everett.
The importance of UM and UIM insurance is not always adequately explained by insurance agents and brokers. When a car insurance buying consumer seeks auto insurance quotations online, the information that is supplied with the quote is minimal. It helps if the consumer is already knowledgeable about insurance. Uneducated insurance clients are often twice victimized, first by the carelessness of the uninsured or under insured motorist, and second, by the insufficient coverage of their own insurance policy.
Pennsylvania is one state that imposes limits on your available amount of UM/UIM coverage. So, the UM/UIM coverage cannot be more than the policy's liability coverage. To say it differently, those buying the insurance cannot give themselves greater protection than they give others from their own negligence. "Stacking" of coverage is allowable. A person can, if they have three or more vehicles on the same policy, purchase $500,000 coverage of each UM/UIM and liability The "stacking" option allows consumers to multiply their $500,000 UM/UIM coverage by the number of vehicles they own on the policy, up to a total of $1,500,000 worth of coverage. Carefully analyzing one's automobile insurance coverage, and paying a little more for adequate UM/UIM coverage, is among the wisest things we can all do to protect ourselves and our families against the effects of negligent uninsured and under insured drivers.