Are There Benefits of Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Coverage on Your Auto Insurance Policy?

Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Coverage on your auto insurance policy is not exactly what it sounds like. The Uninsured Coverage portion allows the driver and passengers to have their bodily/personal injuries, damages, or death caused by another driver in another automobile or an unidentified driver, to be covered. This coverage normally covers the people in the car and not the automobile. For instance, you are in an accident with a driver with no insurance coverage. You and your passenger will be able to seek medical care under the coverage on your insurance policy, up to the limits set on the policy.

For the Underinsured Motorist Coverage of the Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage, this coverage makes up the difference for a driver at fault in an accident in which you are injured. A hypothetical scenario is being involved in a wreck with a person that drives a car with insurance coverage, but not enough coverage to handle the extensive operations you need. His or her insurance would cover everything up to their limits, then the Underinsured Motorist Coverage would pay for the difference not covered (up to your policy's deductibles).

Some states allow the Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage to work in two different ways. Some states allow you to use your Underinsured Motorist coverage only in the case that the other driver that caused the accident pays less then your own Underinsured Coverage. For example if a person has $75,000 in medical expenses, and the other driver has a $20,000 limit on the bodily injury policy and you have $40,000 in Underinsured Motorist coverage, you would get $20,000 from the other driver's policy and $20,000 from your own Underinsured Motorist policy.

In some states, the Underinsured Motorist coverage goes with the other driver's coverage. In this case as before, the other driver's coverage of $20,000 plus your coverage of $40,000, allowing for a total of $60,000 in coverage for bodily injury. These options do vary by state, so to be sure check your state insurance regulations.

There is also Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage for property damage to automobiles.

Source:

"Why You Need Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage", Insurance.com