It seems silly to pay even more for car insurance than you already do, but sometimes a small monetary increase to your bill can ultimately help you save thousands. If you are involved in a car accident have you wondered what would happen to you if the other car owner doesn’t have insurance? This is where uninsured motorist coverage comes into play, according to http://thompsonlawtx.com/
Uninsured motorist coverage is only used when the at-fault driver doesn’t have enough liability coverage or doesn’t have any.
In every state except New Hampshire for some reason and in Washington DC, it’s illegal to operate a car without insurance but surprisingly 1 out of 8 drivers were uninsured in 2012. And just because a driver has insurance doesn’t mean they have liability insurance. If you are involved in a car accident and you don’t have uninsured motorist coverage and the person at fault doesn’t have insurance, you will need to pay out of your own pocket for property damage and medical expenses.
There are two types of uninsured motorist coverage:
- UMBI: uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage covers medical expenses, lost wages and injury-related expenses for you and your passengers
- UMPD: uninsured motorist property damage covers exactly what it sounds like property damage to your car
There are twenty-two states/districts that require you to have uninsured motorist coverage:
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusettes
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
If you do not live in any of these states it is still highly recommended to purchase this insurance to make sure that you are protected in the event of an accident.