Uninsured motorist coverage

[LoveBWVVBR]

Do you carry this, and why or why not?

DH and I had a conversation about Uninsured Motorist Coverage this morning. I carry it on our policy, and it's "stacked" which makes it even more $$. DH thinks it's dubious insurance...it's definitely the most $$$ part of our policy. Now I *think* I have to have it (at least unstacked) due to my umbrella policy, but I think it's not dubious insurance but necessary coverage. We live in FL where we definitely have more than our fair share of people driving without insurance (or with too little insurance). I'd just like to hear other people's opinions on this coverage.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I carry it - like you say, plenty of folks in FL are driving around without insurance. I don't have the 'stacked' option and it's definitely not the priciest part of my policy by a long shot, though.

 

[ImDMous]

We got hit by a teenage girl driving her boyfriend's truck. She had no insurance, his insurance wouldn't pay because she was not an authorized driver. Our car was totally, I was in the hospital for a week and in a wheelchair for 6 more weeks. Our uninsured motorist coverage didn't even come close to those bills, we always make sure to up it from the standard now. Haven't needed it again but we're not taking any chances.

 

[dclpluto]

We have to pay for all the illegals in the country.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

We got hit by a teenage girl driving her boyfriend's truck. She had no insurance, his insurance wouldn't pay because she was not an authorized driver. Our car was totally, I was in the hospital for a week and in a wheelchair for 6 more weeks. Our uninsured motorist coverage didn't even come close to those bills, we always make sure to up it from the standard now. Haven't needed it again but we're not taking any chances.

Yikes. Didn't your medical insurance cover all of the bills though? That's my DH's question...when does uninsured motorist insurance become useful in addition to medical insurance?

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

My medical insurance (at least the insurance I had this year) has a fairly high deductible and then 10% co-insurance, with an out of pocket maximum that I could never actually afford to pay. I would depend on my UM coverage to help pay my share of the medical bills if I were seriously injured by an uninsured driver.

 

[Bree]

We have to pay for all the illegals in the country.

Seriously???? There are PLENTY of US citizens that are not insured or underinsured. I haven't read it here, but I'm on other forums and there are people making the choice of eating or paying their car insurance bill.

 

[dclpluto]

Seriously???? There are PLENTY of US citizens that are not insured or underinsured. I haven't read it here, but I'm on other forums and there are people making the choice of eating or paying their car insurance bill.

Yes seriously. Lots and lots of illegals driving. No license. No insurance. Sure there's us citizens driving uninsured but not 100 percent or close to 100 percent like illegals

 

[tvguy]

I carry it. It is the second least expensive portion of my premium. Almost exactly 10% of the total premium. Only Auto Medical portion is less.

I listen to Police and Fire radios at work, about half the people involved in accidents have no insurance. Given how little the premium is, and how great the odds are of someone being uninsured, it's worth it.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Seriously???? There are PLENTY of US citizens that are not insured or underinsured. I haven't read it here, but I'm on other forums and there are people making the choice of eating or paying their car insurance bill.

Yes seriously. Lots and lots of illegals driving. No license. No insurance. Sure there's us citizens driving uninsured but not 100 percent or close to 100 percent like illegals

I'm not sure what the argument is here...both of these are part of the problem.

1) If you're having to make the choice between eating and paying car insurance let me make the decision easy...eat and cancel your car insurance. Bus, Walk or bike but no insurance = no driving, that is against the law.

2) If you're here illegally mooching off of our nation and driving around stay away from me. It's bad enough you're spitting in our face by being here taking advantage of numerous programs designed for tax paying citizens but now you're going to put my life (or at least my finances) at risk by driving unlicensed and uninsured, blech!

Both are against the law and I'm not sure we really need to argue about which one is worse. Just get both of these people off of our roads.

 

[MillauFr]

I believe it is required in Washington State. You are crazy not to have it.

 

[AZMermaid]

In AZ I've read something like 1 in 4 drivers are uninsured. So, yes, we have it. every driver in my family had been hit by an uninsured driver.

I've been in one accident and it was with a 14 year old driving his moms uninsured car. When she got there, she asked me to say she was driving but I refused. I speak enough Spanish to know they considered leaving the scene at that point, but their car was leaking all over and wouldn't run. It stunk because I was student teaching at the time and had taken off collision coverage to reduce costs. I had liability, but nothing to fix my car. Luckily it was drivable and I wasn't hurt, but my trunk was seriously crunched and it hurt my resale by $2K. I could have sued, but figured there was no point.

 

[cvjw]

Came back to my brand new mini van after a soccer game and someone had scraped their car along the whole side of my vehicle when they tried to back out of their space. Of course they were no where to be found. They hit my van and left the scene.

Uninsured motorist coverage handled the repairs.

Very cheap to add the coverage here in Georgia, and totally worth it.

 

[mousehockey37]

I'm not sure what the argument is here...both of these are part of the problem.

1) If you're having to make the choice between eating and paying car insurance let me make the decision easy...eat and cancel your car insurance. Bus, Walk or bike but no insurance = no driving, that is against the law.

2) If you're here illegally mooching off of our nation and driving around stay away from me. It's bad enough you're spitting in our face by being here taking advantage of numerous programs designed for tax paying citizens but now you're going to put my life (or at least my finances) at risk by driving unlicensed and uninsured, blech!

Both are against the law and I'm not sure we really need to argue about which one is worse. Just get both of these people off of our roads.

This is why hit and runs are probably becoming more numerous. These unlicensed/uninsured people know they're royally screwed if they have to deal with the police, so if they get into a minor accident, they're not sticking around to make sure everything's ok.

 

[manning]

Seriously???? There are PLENTY of US citizens that are not insured or underinsured. I haven't read it here, but I'm on other forums and there are people making the choice of eating or paying their car insurance bill.

OK, we have both.

 

[barkley]

Yikes. Didn't your medical insurance cover all of the bills though? That's my DH's question...when does uninsured motorist insurance become useful in addition to medical insurance?

when you don't want to have to deal w/deductibles, co-pays and preferred providers that your med insurance may make you deal with. i know it's the last thing I've wanted to deal w/regarding injuries ds and i sustained in an accident that's still affecting me 15 months after the fact.

we also have drivers in our areas w/low coverage (completely legal but utterly unrealistic when it comes to repairs/med expenses) so by virtue of having the uninsured motorist coverage we also have UNDERinsured protection.

 

[adudeinblue]

It's also required in California to get uninsured insurance.

When I rear-ended on the highway that actually sandwiched me to the car in front of me. My car was destroyed. The American girl behind me was on her way to work when she didn't slow down in time in a construction zone. Felt bad because her insurance ultimately did not cover her because she was not meeting her bills on time. Uninsured Insurance essentially wrote me a check.

 

[Divslp]

Definitely keep it, and try to aim for at least 250k-500k. You need to look out for yourself too. Most people carry limits of 100k or less. Which in serious cases barely covers anything. In our state UIM coverage kicks in if the policy limits are offered and you have a higher UIM limit than the policy limit offer.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

My medical insurance (at least the insurance I had this year) has a fairly high deductible and then 10% co-insurance, with an out of pocket maximum that I could never actually afford to pay. I would depend on my UM coverage to help pay my share of the medical bills if I were seriously injured by an uninsured driver.

Ah OK, this makes sense. We have the same kind of high deductable insurance actually.

Definitely keep it, and try to aim for at least 250k-500k. You need to look out for yourself too. Most people carry limits of 100k or less. Which in serious cases barely covers anything. In our state UIM coverage kicks in if the policy limits are offered and you have a higher UIM limit than the policy limit offer.

This is what we have, the 500K, but also "stacked". It is definitely the most $$ part of our policy. The stacked thing is what makes it so $$, but the way it was explained to me, this is the best way to have it.

This thread has been an eye-opener. I'm going to have DH read it. Don't worry, I'm not dropping UM. I just wanted a good explanation of why people carry it since DH thought it was just basically dubious coverage.

 

[NinaBella]

You need it to take care you and your family. One in every 4 driver's in Florida are uninsured. UM/UIM protects you against uninsured and underinsured motorist. If they don't have insurance, most likely they have nothing to sue them for either. I had a hard time putting my son on his own policy because we would lose one vehicle stack limits (and I carry 300/500/300) for three vehicles. I finally put him on his policy this month. I also put the truck in his name, changed registration etc. He is 21. If he is in an accident, I don't want someone to sue me. He is a great driver but you can't predict the future. I did set his policy up so he has 100k in medical (highest our company offers) and mid range on liability, not the crazy low Florida state minimums of 10/20/10 which is the lowest liability state I have seen. The crazy part is I was paying over a thousand (additional) every six months when he was on my policy. Now his policy is $899 every six months for a 2001 Ford Ranger. Sure it would have been less with state minimums, no comp/coll, but I know better than to do state minimum liability only.

I know insurance has been a big topic on the board lately, but rates are rates. Each company reports their rates to the state. You need insurance, not just because it is the state law but to protect yourself, your family, and your assets (in case you are sued). Keep the options stacked. I hope you never have to use insurance, but if you do, you won't regret paying the premium once it is needed. Go with a company that has a great reputation when it comes to claims. I drive by accidents DAILY here in Florida.