What is uninsured motorist coverage ? The Importance of obtaining UM Coverage in Los Angeles, California

     The Importance of obtaining UM Coverage in California ? The state of California has more uninsured motorists on its roads than any other place in the country.  For this reason, California law requires that every automobile liability insurance policy offers uninsured and under insured motorist coverage.  This is designed to compensate someone who is insured for damage inflicted upon them by a motorist with little or no insurance. The idea behind these policies is that those who choose to operate automobiles without insurance generally have fewer assets and less income than those drivers who have purchased insurance. Therefore someone injured by a less affluent uninsured motorist would be unable to collect damages for medical bills, lost wages, property damage and other losses caused by the car accident.  They also don’t have automobile liability coverage to compensate you for your damages.

     To cover the potential losses caused by uninsured or under insured drivers (those who may carry insurance but not enough to cover your damages), you should strongly consider purchasing the uninsured motorist coverage offered by your provider.  Insurance carriers typically offer their clients uninsured policies equal to the limits of the driver’s liability policy limits.  For example, if a driver has purchased a liability policy with a limit of $100,000, they usually have the option to also purchase an uninsured motorist policy with a limit of $100,000.  Here in California, you may not collect more for damages caused by an uninsured motorist than  maximum limit on your policy.

      You may be wondering why you would need uninsured motorist coverage when you have health insurance.  It is true that health insurance will pay for your medical bills if you are in a car accident no matter who was at fault in causing it.  However, many of us have policies with high deductibles and co-payments that apply as well as policies that won’t cover absolutely everything needed to get us back to our optimal health (think chiropractic care, acupuncture, extended rehab, etc.).  On top of this, your health insurance will not cover the costs of getting your car fixed, they will not reimburse you for wages lost when you were out of work recovering from your injuries and they will not compensate you for your pain and suffering.  If you had an uninsured motorist policy, you would be able to recover for all of these damages from your own insurance company if the other driver was at fault in the accident.

      Don’t find yourself facing financial loss at the hands of a financially irresponsible driver.  The only way to totally protect yourself from insolvent, judgement-proof, drivers is to take matters into your own hands and purchase uninsured/underinsured motorists coverage.  A driver wishing to purchase more insurance than the maximum uninsured motorist coverage available to them may purchase an umbrella policy that can be applied to cover losses exceeding any of their insurance policies.

      If you have any questions about how uninsured motorist coverage works and why you should maintain such a policy, please call Rahanama Law today to speak to an experienced attorney