Why You Should Have Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury Coverage

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Woman with bodily injury during a car accident

In an ideal world, everyone would have an insurance policy. Unfortunately, in the real world, only 1 in 7 drivers are either underinsured or uninsured.

But how does that impact you and your family?

Let’s say you’re involved in a car accident and the other driver is found guilty. If the driver has insurance, your medical bills and damages will be paid, but if there’s no coverage, you’ll have to pay all the expenses yourself. Uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage helps you avoid this scenario.

In certain states, this type of coverage protects your family too, even if they’re involved in a car crash in someone else’s vehicle.

Also, depending on your liability limits, you can also use the money for extended care if the car crash left you with long-term health issues.

Read on to learn the benefits of having uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage, what it covers, how it works, and how you can find advantageous rates.

What uninsured motorist injury insurance covers

If you opt for this type of insurance, the people living in your house as well as your passengers will all be covered regardless of what happens after the accident. In some cases, the driver will flee the scene, but uninsured motorist bodily injury insurance will cover the medical expenses and other damages.

This type insurance protects you from uninsured drivers and drivers who choose to leave the scene of an accident.

On top of this, you can use this insurance even if you ride in someone else’s car, or if you ride a bike.

In most cases it covers:

  • Emergency care and extended care for health issues caused by the car crash
  • Funeral expenses
  • It may help you if you lose your job due to the accident
  • Pain and emotional distress due to permanent injuries

In some states, this type of insurance is mandatory. In Arizona, the mandatory coverage for bodily injuries is $15,000. However, medical bills are often bigger than the minimum amount of insurance required.

For example, if your medical bills reach climb beyond $70,000, the insurance will cover $15,000 and the rest of the bills will be paid by you.

A good rule of thumb is to choose an insurance that has the same value as your total assets.

Why should this be the case? In a situation where you endure serious injuries and you need emergency care that also happens to be extremely expensive, you may be at risk of losing your assets if your insurance doesn’t have the same value as your home, car, etc.

Shouldn’t the driver at-fault pay anyway?

In some cases, the driver who’s at fault leaves the scene, but even in a case where the driver does stay, you can still be left with hefty medical bills.

You can sue the driver at fault, but you have to keep in mind that people who are uninsured are usually the ones who are trying to save some extra money. The driver is typically financially unstable in cases like this, and even if you do try to go to court, the driver can declare bankruptcy.

Is a premium health insurance plan enough?

Many people believe that a good health insurance plan is enough to protect them from situations where they’re hit by an uninsured driver.

Sadly, your health insurance plan only covers your medical bills. It doesn’t help you in any way if you end up losing your job as a result of the health issues or if you need treatment for a prolonged period of time.

To make things even more complicated, you may not be allowed to use your health insurance first as a means of coverage in the case of a car crash. As a result, you’ll have to use your auto insurance first and then use your health care plan to cover medical bills.

Also, you have to keep in mind that if you have passengers in your car that don’t have a good healthcare plan, they’ll have to pay for the expenses out of the pocket, a scenario that can be avoided with uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage.

How you can find affordable rates for uninsured motorist bodily injury insurance?

You can try to negotiate with insurance companies on you own and look at a few insurance packages. But chances are, you won’t be given a discount.

The advantage that insurance agents have when shopping around for insurance packages is that they have both connections and the ability to negotiate rates because they can promise more clients to companies. As an individual, you can’t say the same.

If you want to get a free quote on how much this type of insurance would cost you, feel free to reach out to us.

Auto Accidents With No Auto Insurance: What Should I Do?

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Auto Accident With No Auto Insurance

When we’re on the road, we are always at risk of getting into accidents. There’s no way of knowing when or if it will happen, which is why knowing the answers to auto insurance questions is very helpful. Accident is already a big problem by itself. But it becomes an even bigger, more complicated problem if you drive with no auto insurance.

A lot of people don’t get auto insurance because they think it’s very costly. But they don’t bear in mind that getting in an accident uninsured is even more expensive. Statistics shows that one in seven people that are involved in accidents has no auto insurance. If you are one of those who drive uninsured or if the other person doesn’t have insurance, here are the things that you can do in the event that you get into an accident:

What to Do After the Accident

            The first thing you need to do shortly after the accident is to take note of important information regarding the other person. These include registration number, car model, name, and address, if at all possible. You can also take photos of your and the other person’s car to assess the damage, road markings, weather conditions and other helpful clues. If there are any witnesses, you can also get information from them. These are very helpful if the other person has no auto insurance.

Contact Your Insurance Company

 If you have insurance, immediately call the company to check the coverage of your policy. If you don’t have one, better contact a reliable, professional company that provides auto insurance in casa grande, AZ.

If you have insurance, you are in luck if your own policy’s coverage includes those for uninsured drivers. This is mandatory in some states. You can directly contact the insurance company or call a lawyer to review your options and to check if you are covered. This is because you might have difficulty recouping from the other person with no auto insurance, who might not have enough money to pay for the damages because in the first place he or she did not insure because of lack of money. Even if you file a legal action, it still doesn’t change the fact that he or she can’t pay you.

Aside from the insurance company, you must also contact the police. This will ensure that the driver will not run away from the scene. The police will ask you to write a written report and they will conduct their investigation regarding the accident.

If You’re the Uninsured Driver

            What if you are the one with no insurance policy? If you think you are not at fault, you should still contact the police to protect your rights. A written report will increase your chances against the other driver, even if he or she is insured. You can have the driver’s policy cover for the damages.

If ever you caused the accident, getting a written statement is still important. You can use this as your defense if ever the opposing driver sues for damages. It is best to contact an attorney so that your rights and assets will be protected.

Check if the type of accident can be covered by the other driver’s insurance. As a gesture of good faith, the payment can be negotiated through the insurance company. If the driver’s policy covers a rider for uninsured drivers, then you will only be paying the deductible.

It is always best to be the insured driver. You can never foresee an accident coming. You may think that having no auto insurance is the more economical choice. But you’re wrong. Getting into an accident uninsured is even more costly. Don’t wait for an accident to happen. Get auto insurance now at Gebhardt Insruance Group. They are experts when it comes to these things. They can make it easy and less costly for you in the event that you get involved in an accident. Just simply call this number (520) 836-3244.