I have two clients who were injured in significant car accidents. In both cases, these clients had uninsured motorist coverage. In California, uninsured motorist coverage doubles as underinsured motorist coverage. What does this mean?
If you are hit by someone without insurance, roughly 40% of drivers, than your uninsured motorist coverage, called UM coverage, pays for your damages, assuming you meet the conditions in the policy. If you are hit by someone who does not have enough insurance, then your underinsured motorist coverage applies. So, if you have a case that is worth $100,000 and the other person has $15,000 in bodily injury coverage, you would not be fully compensated by their insurance. Your insurance, if you have UM coverage, would pay the difference, up to the policy limit.
Both of these folks surprised me that they had this coverage. Why? Because too many people do not have uninsured motorist coverage. A lot of insurance agents don’t sell it. I don’t know why, but I can speculate that the commissions are not great. For one client, the $100,000 of UM coverage cost $6.87 per 6 months. That is dirt cheap!
Please make sure you review your insurance coverages. I am still offering a free review of your insurance policy if you email me at jonathan@jonathangstein.com. A second opinion, be it from me or an insurance agent, is very valuable when it comes to these matters.