Yesterday I told you I would talk today about what Uninsured Motorist coverage is and why it is so important. So here we go.
When most people think about buying car insurance they focus on liability coverage. You buy liability coverage to protect others in the event you cause an accident and someone is injured. Uninsured Motorist coverage has a different purpose. You buy Uninsured Motorist coverage to protect yourself and your family. Here is how it works.
Let's say you are involved in a wreck. The other driver was driving without insurance. Who pays for your damages? Well, if you do not have Uninsured Motorist coverage, you probably pay. If you do have Uninsured Motorist coverage, your own insurance company pays. Essentially when you have Uninsured Motorist coverage and are damaged by another driver who has no insurance, your own insurance company "steps into the shoes" of the other driver and pays you just as if that other driver had insurance.
There is more. Uninsured Motorist coverage also applies in a situation where you suffer damages in a car accident and the other driver has insurance but not enough to fully pay your damages. This is actually called Underinsured Motorist coverage, but it is all included in what the automobile insurance industry calls Uninsured Motorist coverage.
To give an example of how Underinsured Motorist works consider a car crash where you are injured and your medical bills are $75,000.00. Let's say the driver who caused the crash only has $50,000.00 of liability coverage. That would mean the most you can recover from the other driver's insurance company would be $50,000.00. You are left with $25,000.00 of unpaid bills. You are only partially compensated.
But if, in the same scenario, you were carrying $75,000.00 of Uninsured Motorist coverage you would be fully protected. The other driver's insurance company would pay the first $50,000.00 and your own insurance company would pay the last $25,000.00.
Pretty neat, huh? We are big fans of Uninsured Motorist coverage here at Dupee & Pearson, LLC. You might be surprised how often it saves the day!
The next time I blog I'll try to explain why the Uninsured Motorist statute needed to be changed and why the amendment is such good news for Georgia consumers.
