Uninsured Motorist Coverage, What Is It?

State laws mandate all drivers to avail at least a minimum amount of liability insurance before operating their vehicle legally. The major problem of these laws is that many drivers do not comply from what is required or sometimes they just purchase an insurance coverage to the least amount to meet the standards. Drivers who want to ensure that they are protected from any encounter with an underinsured or uninsured motorist might want to add underinsured motorist coverage aside from their existing insurance policy.

Underinsured motorist coverage is usually bundled with uninsured motorist coverage. This is established to cover payouts on the difference of medical bills’ actual cost caused by the other driver and the maximum payout of the at-fault driver. For instance, if the underinsured driver’s insurance pays a maximum of $20,000 USD and the total damage of the car of the other driver is $30,000 USD, the underinsured motorist coverage of the victim will have to pay $10,000 USD difference. It is important to remember that UIM/ UM coverage only includes medical expense: UMPD or uninsured motorist property damage coverage may be needed to cover all non-medical expenses.

Taking a claim in an insurance company against an underinsured motorist may be a big challenge. The at-fault diver’s medical, collision and liability coverage must be first maxed out. The insurance company of the driver may not have enough money to compensate the injuries and damages. However, the victim has all the capacity to demonstrate the burden of proof to support that the additional injuries and damages incurred are all documented and accurate, thus the at-fault driver might need to address.

However, there are some drivers who would choose not to add additional premiums intended for underinsured motorist coverage on their existing insurance coverage since they believe that other insurance forms may cover the said excess. For example, a medical insurance may cover medical care incurred during a car accident. Obtaining duplicate medical coverage along with an uninsured medical coverage may seem to be redundant to some.

Generally, underinsured motorist coverage may provide even more than financial protection to the passengers and the driver involved in an accident. Personal health insurance can only cover the injuries obtained by the policyholder as well as certain dependents, but in terms of underinsured motorist coverage, it covers all the passengers involved in a vehicle, including those who are not included in the coverage of the driver’s medical insurance.

Many insurance companies would strongly recommend to many drivers to avail uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage if they can still afford to pay additional amount on their premiums because there are a lot of drivers on the road who are still underinsured or uninsured. The additional amount added to the premium is nominal if you’ll try to compare it with the amount of uncovered damage caused by underemployed or unemployed drivers which may cause serious accidents which in turn cause heavy damages on property and multiple injuries to the people involved.