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Even if you are insured for collision and injury, are you truly covered? Let’s look at the following scenario. As a law-abiding Californian, you carry collision and liability coverage and you are rear ended while driving your child to school. The back of your car sustains significant damage and both you and your child have significant lower back and neck pain. After calling 911 for transport for both you and your child, you exchange insurance information with the driver who hit your car. After the emergency room visit, you hire an attorney to represent you in your claim against the liable driver.
Unfortunately, the insurance coverage of the defendant is well below the cost of your child’s long term medical expenses as a result of the liable party’s minimum amount coverage. If you had underinsured motorist coverage, your car accident injury lawyer could file a claim against your insurance provider to pay for a large portion or all of your medical expenses as well as pain and suffering. It is all too often that I have to search for alternative sources of insurance to cover my clients’ expenses because they lack uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.
Given the number of drivers on the roads every day with the legal minimum damage and injury coverage, I would say without a doubt that having under-insured motorist coverage is necessary if you can afford it. While California has a surprisingly low percentage of uninsured drivers, our legal minimum policy is $15,000 per injured victim. If you browse through my case history, you can see that many of the settlements I won for my clients well exceed the legal minimum. If the care for your injuries exceeds their insurance policy limits, then you may be on the hook for your medical care if alternate sources cannot be found. Depending on the amount of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage you can afford, you can drive with peace of mind knowing that you are covered, regardless of who collides with you.