Washington law requires all drivers to carry liability insurance. This coverage will protect you from liability by compensating the victims of an accident you cause. But what if the victim is you? What if you are injured and you didn’t cause the accident? What if another driver caused the accident? And what if that driver is uninsured, as around 20% of Washington drivers are?
http://www.kirotv.com/money/15382772/detail.html
If you have health insurance, it may pay for some of your accident-related medical bills (after you satisfy all of your deductibles and co-pays).
If you have PIP coverage through your own auto insurer, that may pay some of your bills as well.
However, neither of these policies will compensate you for the non-economic damages you sustain in the accident – your pain and suffering, disability, or the impact on your quality of life. In order to make a full recovery, you need to have Uninsured Motorist (UM) or Under insured Motorist (UIM) coverage through your own auto insurer.
An uninsured motorist has no liability insurance at all while an under insured motorist has liability insurance, but not enough to compensate you for your loss. If you suffer a truly catastrophic loss, even a person with a million dollars in liability coverage could be considered under insured.
UM/UIM coverage protects you when you are injured by an uninsured or under insured driver, or when the driver who caused the accident is unknown (such as in a hit and run collision). Basically, when you have UM/UIM coverage, your insurer acts as if it was the insurer for the driver who caused the accident.
While PIP only pays for medical (and some other) expenses, UM/UIM will cover medical expenses, property damage and lost income as well as your non-economic damages such as physical pain and emotional distress, disability, disfigurement and loss of enjoyment of life.
Check your auto insurance policy right now! If you don’t have UM/UIM coverage, call your insurer and add it. It doesn’t cost very much, and with all of those uninsured drivers out there, it just doesn’t make sense to go without it. The reality is, the chances of making a recovery from an uninsured driver are slim. If you are hit by an uninsured driver, your best chance of making a recovery is by making sure you have adequate coverage.
If you are a law abiding driver, you already have liability insurance. Good for you. You are being a responsible driver and are looking out for those you might injure in a moment of carelessness or inattention.
Don’t you think you should look out for yourself as well?
If you have any more questions about UM/UIM coverage or auto insurance in general, please check out our website or send me an email: matt@dubinlawoffice.com
