As a California licensed insurance agent, I come across a lot of sad stories of people who have been in accidents involving uninsured drivers (or underinsured drivers).
Discover why increasing your Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury coverage is one of the wisest things you can do for you and your family.
First of all, let me explain what Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury coverage is.
This covers you and your passenger's injuries if an uninsured (or under-insured) driver hits you.
This is not required by law but it's generally quite inexpensive and a good idea to have.
Here's an example: Driver A does not believe in paying for car insurance.
Driver A runs into you while at the grocery store.
Luckily, Driver A is honest enough to stick around and exchange information with you.
Driver A is responsible for the accident.
He is supposed to pay for your injuries and your family's injuries.
He has no money, however, and simply cannot pay you.
You go through the process of suing him in court.
You may eventually get the money owed to you but over the length of several months to even years (if at all).
In the mean time, you've had to pay for everything yourself.
This could simply be avoided if you carry Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury coverage.
In this scenario, you would also have to pay your Collision deductible before your car would be repaired.
This can be avoided if you choose to purchase a 'Collision Deductible Waiver' or C.
D.
W.
C.
D.
W.
waives the need for you to pay your deductible if an uninsured driver hits you.
C.
D.
W.
generally only costs a few dollars for the entire policy.
I mentioned under-insured drivers earlier.
Many people choose only to have the bare minimum coverage required by law.
This is typically only 15/30/5 ($15,000 to pay for each person's injuries, $30,000 to pay for the total amount of bodily injury if multiple people are hurt, and $5,000 to help pay for the other person's car).
If you're seriously injured in an accident and the at fault driver only has the bare minimum, you're going to have a difficult time getting them to pay.
Their insurance company will pay only up to their limits.
From then on you will have to pursue the rest on your own (through court, most likely).
So be sure you have enough coverage to protect yourself and your family.
Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury is generally the least expensive part of your insurance.