Having the appropriate insurance coverage in case of an auto accident is one of the most important steps that you can take to protect yourself. I understand that no one likes using their own car insurance when they are not at fault in an accident, but sometimes you have no choice.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Most people assume that if they are injured in an accident through no fault of their own, the other driver’s insurance company will simply cover all their injuries, medical bills, and lost wages. If you are injured in a car accident by a driver that has no insurance, what can you do? What if you are seriously injured in an accident through no fault of your own, but the other driver has minimum insurance coverage, which in North Carolina is only $30,000? In my experience $30,000 often does not even come close to paying for the medical expenses of someone seriously injured in a car accident, much less their lost wages and pain and suffering. These scenarios, which are unfortunately very real, are the recipe for financial disaster.
You cannot control how much car insurance, if any, other drivers on the road have on their vehicles. I say “if any” because recent studies show that one out of every six drivers in North Carolina has no automobile liability insurance. In North Carolina, we have over 6 million licensed drivers, which means that there are a little over 1 million drivers in North Carolina that have no automobile liability insurance.
What can you do ahead of time to guard against the financial hardship of being seriously injured in an accident caused by someone with little or no insurance? You first look at your insurance policy or talk with your insurance agent to see if you have sufficient uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage as part of your motorcycle insurance policy. Uninsured coverage protects you when the person causing your accident has no insurance at all, and underinsured coverage protects you when the person causing your accident has too little insurance. You will find that increasing your uninsured and underinsured coverage is fairly inexpensive, particularly when weighed against the cost of getting into an accident when the other driver has little or no insurance coverage.
If you have any questions about your auto insurance coverage give me a call directly at 919-942-1181, send me an email at garyrpoole@mindspring.com or complete our online contact form. I am always available to answer your questions and my consultation is free.