Uninsured-Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury and Property Damage

The unfortunate truth is that sometimes accidents happen, but when they do is all insurance the same?

In a word, no. You have no doubt been exposed to lots of commercials talking about “cut-rate” insurance, but what exactly does that mean?

All states set the limit for what the minimum liability coverage they will allow their residents to carry. For example CO has set the limit at 25/50/15 as of the writing of this blog in September of 2011. What that means is that each driver is required to carry at least:

$25,000 of bodily injury per person
$50,000 of bodily injury per accident
$15,000 of property damage per accident.

Anyone that has bought a car lately can understand that $15,000 does not go a long way in today’s market.

So what does this all mean in a practical sense? Say that you drove a 2010 Subaru WRX that has a Kelly blue book of $22,000, and while at a red light you are rear ended and the car is totaled but no injuries are luckily sustained, what would happen? Well that depends on the limits that the driver that hit you is carrying. Let’s say they had the minimum limits of $15,000. That leaves you $7,000 short of getting another car comparable to the WRX.

Well if you have uninsured-underinsured coverage with your policy then you will be getting a new car in no time. If you do not have this coverage then you are stuck with going after the individual that hit you for the additional loss that you sustain due to the accident. If after months of court you win, then hopefully they can pay the difference, or else your 2010 WRX may turn into something a little less sporty then you may have had in mind.

What if there were injuries suffered? When a simple trip to the hospital can cost $1,000’s for routine patch jobs, do you think $25,000 would be enough to cover you in a serious accident with serious injuries?

At DCInsurers we can help you through the insurance maze and turn their jargon into English and practical real life examples. For more information give us a call today @ 303-693-9343.