What Is Underinsured and Uninsured Motorist Coverage and Why Do I Need It?
If you are not sure what this coverage is or why you need it, you are not alone. Most insurance agents do not fully explain this coverage. It may be the most important insurance coverage you have because it protects you in the event the at fault driver does not have insurance IE is uninsured or the at fault driver does not have enough insurance to fully compensate you and is underinsured. Uninsured coverage is simple to understand; underinsured is best understood with this example. You are involved in a car accident which is not your fault. The at fault driver has the minimum required insurance of $15,000. Your claim for injuries has a value of $100,000. You would then, in theory, have an underinsured claim for $85,000. In which case you would then look to your own insurance company to make up the difference by paying you from the underinsured part of your policy. Typically the amount of your underinsured benefits is equal to your liability insurance coverage. If your liability coverage is $100,000, your underinsured benefits would be the same. If you try to resolve your claim against the at fault driver without proper advice you could jeopardize your right to receive underinsured motorist benefits.
Filing a Car Accident Claim against the At-Fault Driver
If another driver causes you to be seriously injured in a car accident, you can file a claim against their liability coverage, which is designed for just this purpose. While motorists are required to carry liability insurance in Pennsylvania, the difficult truth is that not all do. Even when drivers do have liability insurance, they may not have enough liability coverage to cover your harms and losses. If the driver who injures you falls into one of these categories, you can turn to your own underinsured or uninsured motorist (UIM/UM) coverage for the compensation to which you’re entitled.
Under Insured Motorist Coverage
When you purchased your own car insurance – as required by law – the policy you chose very likely included UIM/UM coverage, which is triggered if you’re ever injured by an underinsured or uninsured motorist. In fact, insurance providers are required to offer this coverage, and motorists can only deny it if they do so in writing.
The physical, financial, and emotional losses you experience following a serious car accident can include the following:
- Your medical bills, which may be ongoing and may need to address complications and secondary health concerns
- Your lost income, which may include losses that relate to your career and earning potential
- Your physical and emotional pain and suffering, which can go beyond your other categories of loss combined
You can seek compensation for each of these forms of loss through the underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage on your policy.
Stacking Policies
Even if your underinsured motorist policy limit falls short of compensating you for your complete losses, these policies can often be stacked. This means that if you have more than one vehicle on the policy, you can add the total UIM coverage in response to your legal damages – or losses. In the state of Pennsylvania, stacked coverage applies to the policy you purchase – unless you directly reject it.
An Experienced Harrisburg Car Accident Attorney Can Help
The savvy Harrisburg, PA, car accident lawyers at Cunningham, Chernicoff & Warshawsky, P.C., are committed to harnessing the full force of their impressive experience and legal skill in fierce defense of your legal rights and in focused pursuit of your rightful compensation. Your ability to reach your fullest recovery can hinge on your settlement or court award, which makes reaching out for focused legal representation sooner rather than later advisable. To learn more about what we can do to help you, please don’t wait to contact us online or call 717-260-3527 today.