Uninsured motorist coverage is a kind of insurance which is designed to protect you in the event of a car accident that is caused by a driver who does not have insurance or cannot be sued for whatever reason. This coverage is vital to have because you never know who is in the car that causes the accident that hurts you, and you never know if they’ve paid their bill! You may be fully compliant with the law, but that does not mean that every other motorist on the road is.
We’d like to thank our friends from Blaszkow Legal, PLLC for the following post about what uninsured motorist coverage is and why it is important.
Waiving Or Limiting Coverage
In some states, you may actually waive uninsured motorist coverage. In other states, you may be able to have minimal uninsured motorist coverage limits. We never advise this! Even though we are not insurance brokers, we recommend that all clients have good uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage can be thought of like all other kinds of insurance: you hope you don’t need it, but if you do need it, you hope it’s good!
Dealing With An Uninsured Motorist
So what does it mean to be dealing with an uninsured motorist? Well, the most common answer is someone who has hit your car and has no car insurance of their own. This is literally the textbook definition. But it’s also not the only definition!
Hit and run drivers are also uninsured motorists. Even though the person who hits your car and then ran away may indeed have insurance, that driver did not stop long enough to give it to you. And if you don’t have the tag number, you might not be able to track it down. Hit and run cases are a kind of case that is pursued through an uninsured motorist claim.
Other Uninsured Motorist Scenarios
In some jurisdictions, there are even more incidents that fall within the realm of uninsured motorist cases. For example, in Virginia, an accident caused by an emergency vehicle is going to be pursued as an uninsured motorist claim. Virginia Code 38.2-2206(B.1) includes as uninsured motorists owners and operators that are “immune from liability for negligence under the laws of the Commonwealth…” Now, it is important to remember that this is not the same in all states. You have to look at the law.
Why Uninsured Motorist Coverage Is Important
Uninsured motorist coverage is beyond central. We never recommend that you waive this coverage because really you are only serving to help the insurance company. If you are hurt in a motor vehicle collision and the other driver has no coverage or assets to recover from, then you may find yourself up the creek without a paddle. It is definitely worth paying a few extra dollars a month for this coverage to protect yourself and any passengers in your vehicle!
If you have questions about uninsured motorist coverage and how it applies to your accident claim, a car accident lawyer can provide legal advice and guidance.
