In an ideal world, everyone would have an insurance policy. Unfortunately, in the real world, only 1 in 7 drivers are either underinsured or uninsured.
But how does that impact you and your family?
Let’s say you’re involved in a car accident and the other driver is found guilty. If the driver has insurance, your medical bills and damages will be paid, but if there’s no coverage, you’ll have to pay all the expenses yourself. Uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage helps you avoid this scenario.
In certain states, this type of coverage protects your family too, even if they’re involved in a car crash in someone else’s vehicle.
Also, depending on your liability limits, you can also use the money for extended care if the car crash left you with long-term health issues.
Read on to learn the benefits of having uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage, what it covers, how it works, and how you can find advantageous rates.
What uninsured motorist injury insurance covers
If you opt for this type of insurance, the people living in your house as well as your passengers will all be covered regardless of what happens after the accident. In some cases, the driver will flee the scene, but uninsured motorist bodily injury insurance will cover the medical expenses and other damages.
This type insurance protects you from uninsured drivers and drivers who choose to leave the scene of an accident.
On top of this, you can use this insurance even if you ride in someone else’s car, or if you ride a bike.
In most cases it covers:
- Emergency care and extended care for health issues caused by the car crash
- Funeral expenses
- It may help you if you lose your job due to the accident
- Pain and emotional distress due to permanent injuries
In some states, this type of insurance is mandatory. In Arizona, the mandatory coverage for bodily injuries is $15,000. However, medical bills are often bigger than the minimum amount of insurance required.
For example, if your medical bills reach climb beyond $70,000, the insurance will cover $15,000 and the rest of the bills will be paid by you.
A good rule of thumb is to choose an insurance that has the same value as your total assets.
Why should this be the case? In a situation where you endure serious injuries and you need emergency care that also happens to be extremely expensive, you may be at risk of losing your assets if your insurance doesn’t have the same value as your home, car, etc.
Shouldn’t the driver at-fault pay anyway?
In some cases, the driver who’s at fault leaves the scene, but even in a case where the driver does stay, you can still be left with hefty medical bills.
You can sue the driver at fault, but you have to keep in mind that people who are uninsured are usually the ones who are trying to save some extra money. The driver is typically financially unstable in cases like this, and even if you do try to go to court, the driver can declare bankruptcy.
Is a premium health insurance plan enough?
Many people believe that a good health insurance plan is enough to protect them from situations where they’re hit by an uninsured driver.
Sadly, your health insurance plan only covers your medical bills. It doesn’t help you in any way if you end up losing your job as a result of the health issues or if you need treatment for a prolonged period of time.
To make things even more complicated, you may not be allowed to use your health insurance first as a means of coverage in the case of a car crash. As a result, you’ll have to use your auto insurance first and then use your health care plan to cover medical bills.
Also, you have to keep in mind that if you have passengers in your car that don’t have a good healthcare plan, they’ll have to pay for the expenses out of the pocket, a scenario that can be avoided with uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage.
How you can find affordable rates for uninsured motorist bodily injury insurance?
You can try to negotiate with insurance companies on you own and look at a few insurance packages. But chances are, you won’t be given a discount.
The advantage that insurance agents have when shopping around for insurance packages is that they have both connections and the ability to negotiate rates because they can promise more clients to companies. As an individual, you can’t say the same.
If you want to get a free quote on how much this type of insurance would cost you, feel free to reach out to us.