Protect Yourself and Your Family with Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage!
Protect Yourself and Your Family with Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Did you know that North Carolina’s minimum required liability insurance coverage limits for bodily injury in a car wreck are only $30,000.00 per person and $60,000.00 per accident? This means that if you are in a wreck that is someone else’s fault, and you are injured, the at-fault party’s insurance company would only have to pay up to $30,000.00 to you, or if there are multiple people who are hurt, up to $60,000.00 that would be split among the injured parties. Worse yet, if the at-fault party has no insurance coverage, there would be no insurance to pay anyone. The practical effect of this is you or your loved ones could be left without any adequate means to be fully compensated for your injuries.
The way to avoid this is to purchase Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage through your automobile insurance carrier. Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage is coverage that will pay money to you for the injuries you sustained in a wreck where there is no coverage or insufficient coverage from the at-fault party to fully compensate you for your injuries. For most drivers, the cost of adding Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage is very low in comparison to the risks involved with not having it.
You may wonder how this works in real life. Let’s look at two examples below.
Example 1: Uninsured Motorist Coverage
You are injured in a wreck, and suffer $15,000.00 in lost wages, $35,000.00 in medical bills, and $40,000.00 in other damages. You would need a total of $90,000.00 dollars to fully compensate you for your injuries. If the at-fault party had no coverage, you would be left with $90,000.00 of losses that would not be compensated. However, if you had purchased $100,000.00 in Uninsured Motorist Coverage, you would have enough coverage to be reimbursed for your $90,000.00 losses because your Uninsured Motorist Coverage insurance carrier would be legally required to pay the $90,000.00 in losses to you under your policy.
Example 2: Underinsured Motorist Coverage
You are injured in a wreck, and suffer $15,000.00 in lost wages, $35,000.00 in medical bills, and $40,000.00 in other damages. You would need a total of $90,000.00 dollars to fully compensate you for your injuries. If the at-fault party had only the minimum limits coverage of $30,000.00, you would be left with $60,000.00 of losses that would not be compensated. However, if you had purchased $100,000.00 in Underinsured Motorist Coverage, your insurance would cover the difference between the at-fault party’s $30,000.00 payment, and the $60,000.00 of losses that would be outstanding.
Will My Premium Increase if I File an Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Claim?
Under North Carolina law, insurance companies cannot increase your premiums because you choose to file a claim under your Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage because you are not an at-fault party to the wreck. However, some insurers will refuse to renew your insurance at the end of your policy period. If that happens, it is probably for the best because you most likely do not want to do business with a company who refuses to renew your policy because of something that was not your fault. ~ Attorney Melissa Gott