You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.
There seems to be some confusion as to what separates
uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance, so let me break it down for you.
Uninsured motorist insurance covers you if you get hit by someone without
insurance. Underinsured motorist policies cover you when you get hit by someone
who causes more damage than what their policy covers. So say you’re driving
along and all of the sudden a car pulls out of a shopping center and right into
the side of your car because the lady behind the wheel was too busy drinking
her latte to look both ways as she exited the center. You guys pull over to the
side of the road and exchange information. She’s very apologetic and gives you
all of the contact and insurance information you need with no hassle then
drives off. Well, turns out she has the most minimal coverage policy legal in
the state of California and it won’t cover all of the damage that she caused.
Not to worry though because you invested in an underinsured motorist policy
that covers the difference between the damage the other lady caused and the small
amount her insurance covers. Basically, these policies protect you from having
to pay out of pocket for the damages caused by individuals who lack adequate
insurance. Believe it or not, some people are not as considerate as you and
will in fact leave you with the bill even if they are at fault for all damages.
As of 2012, 14.7% of motorists in California were uninsured. This means that 1
out of 7 vehicles on the road carried no form of insurance. As cliché as it
sounds, it really is better to be safe than sorry; better to pay a higher
insurance premium than to be stuck footing the bill for damages that were not your fault.
