01/25/2022
PSA, friends, please check your automobile policies of insurance (and umbrellas, if you have one), and make sure you have adequate coverage for liability (if you get sued), and also for uninsured or underinsured coverage claims (if you are injured and need to recover compensation, but the party at fault has little, or even no insurance). So many people, time and again, are devastated to find that someone who badly injured them in a collision has woefully inadequate insurance (or no coverage), and then when they turn to their own policies for uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits (UM/UIM coverage), they realize they selected lower limits and so have nowhere else to turn for good coverage. Oftentimes, people do not realize what these benefits are until it is unfortunately too late. Many also do not realize that umbrella policies often do not include this type of coverage (UM/UIM) unless it is specifically requested, and even then, not all companies offer it with the umbrella. It is relatively inexpensive compared to the coverage it affords. For example, imagine someone collides into your vehicle, resulting in a wrist fracture with surgery for which you miss multiple months of work unpaid, and the person who hit you only has $15,000 in liability coverage. If you also only have that amount of UM/UIM coverage, which sadly, I am seeing a lot, you may end up stuck with just that coverage limit. However, if you have decent underinsured motorist benefits, let's say $100,000, you would then have an avenue of recourse through your policy for up to $85,000 more (you should have more than that amount if possible). People are also selecting lower PIP coverage, or personal injury protection limits, which is what you use when you are in an automobile accident and injured to pay your medical bills. Insurance companies are promoting lower limits or selection of health care insurance as the primary source of coverage in return for saving money on premiums, but meanwhile you are probably saving $30/year to have $15,000 in medical bill coverage when you can have $250,000. This is exhausted very quickly when it comes to serious injuries. Please review and increase if necessary so you are not left in a bad situation if you are injured. Insurance companies are making these "savings" look appealing and not fully explaining these benefits 😞 Of course, this is just a routine example, and depending upon other variables there sometimes may be other sources of coverage/medical benefits, but we just want to see more people protected in terms of what they can control.
