What is Uninsured Motorist Insurance?
When you sign up for automobile insurance, you have the option of purchasing uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist insurance in addition to your liability coverage. Uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance is insurance that you purchase that steps in to cover you when another driver is not insured or does not have enough insurance to cover your damages. In fact, in Louisiana, you have to specifically reject this type of coverage if you do not want to purchase it.
So basically you are buying insurance to step in if another person injures you and does not have enough insurance.
Do I Need Uninsured Motorist Insurance?
While it may seem tempting to save money every month by declining this coverage, you may want to think twice.
In Louisiana, it is only required under the law to have $15,000/30,000 of automobile insurance on a personal vehicle. Despite this requirement, it is estimated that 13 percent of drivers in Louisiana are not insured at all and an astounding number carry only the minimum amount of insurance on their vehicle. That is, if you are involved in an accident it is highly likely that the other driver is insured with only $15,000 of coverage if at all, which is not enough to cover even minor injuries in some cases.
Too many times, we have had to break the news to seriously injured clients that the driver that injured them did not have enough insurance to compensate them for their injuries. These days, an ER bill can run you almost $10,000 alone. If the driver who injures you or your family only has minimum coverage, you may exhaust their policy with just one visit. We have had clients with extremely serious injuries that prevented them from working and caused tens of thousands of dollars of medical bills who were unable to be fully compensated because they did not have uninsured motorist insurance.
Accordingly, securing uninsured motorist insurance can help you to protect you in these situations.
How Much Uninsured Motorist Insurance Should I Have?
You should buy as much uninsured motorist insurance as you can afford. You never want to find yourself in a situation where you cannot afford medical bills that were caused by another person. We recommend at least having $100,000 of insurance, but if you could afford more, you will not regret having it and it will be money well spent.
How Can I Get Uninsured Motorist Insurance?
You can easily call your insurer or go online/your insurance app to increase your coverage RIGHT NOW. This will go into immediate effect.
We do recommend you get many quotes and shop this insurance. An insurance agent can price compare for you.
If you have questions about UM insurance, what insurance company you should work with or are looking for an agent to price compare for you, give us a call. We can help to steer you in the right direction so that you and your family is protected.