When you are involved and injured in an accident, Uninsured / Underinsured motorist insurance coverage, commonly known as UM / UIM, is an option for you to protect yourself, your family and your passengers against the losses caused by the irresponsible persons driving without insurance or without adequate insurance. When you are unable to recover the losses from the other driver being uninsured or underinsured, your own UM/UIM policy will pay for them.
California and some other states require the motorists to have UM and UIM policies i.e. uninsured and underinsured motorist policy as part of their auto insurance coverage. In some other states, UM / UIM cover property too.
Who is an Uninsured or underinsured motorist?
A driver who may fit the following descriptions is classified as an Uninsured or Underinsured driver.
· Has no insurance
· Carries insurance but it is below the state minimum liability requirements.
· The other driver has defaulted paying premium or his insurance company refused his claim
· Hit and run driver
Uninsured and underinsured motorist policies are good to have in a bad economy when the other party is unable to provide full compensation for your damages. Your own UM & UIM policy will take care of the cost up to your policy limit. It is an inexpensive way to have the protection that you need so you should include UM and UIM coverage in your auto insurance package. Remember to include these two as part of your coverage. You should check your policy and your insurance company to know what is actually covered under UM / UIM policy.
The UM & UIM i.e. uninsured & underinsured motorist coverage offers many additional benefits such as
- Your medical expenses incurred as a result of an accident
- Compensation for the lost wages due to absence from work
- Monetary compensation for pain and suffering
When you do not have collision coverage, being a careful driver, you can include Uninsured Motorist Property Damage coverage (UMPD) in your auto insurance. This will cost you much less than the cost of full collision coverage. By including this you can get reimbursement for the repairs to your vehicle when the other driver has no insurance or inadequate insurance. This policy also will compensate for the cost of medical expenses to you and the passengers in your vehicle if you are injured in an accident with a driver without insurance or with insurance but cannot pay the full cost of your repairs to your damage.
When you were driving in another car as a passenger and got hit by an uninsured driver, and the car you travel in does not have enough UM insurance for covering my medical expenses, what are your options? You can benefit from two policies. The insurance of the car in which you travel will be the primary coverage. If there is no such policy or it does not give your full coverage for your damages, you can make a claim on your own car’s UM / UIM policy.
Insurance companies sell these two policies together generally but you can also purchase any one of them separately.