01/11/2025
How does uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage work?
When looking at the different types of car insurance coverage, uninsured motorist coverage is not something to turn your nose up at, some states even require uninsured and/or underinsured motorist coverage.
Uninsured motorist coverage offers protection against bodily injury for you and your passenger(s) when an accident happens with a driver that is uninsured.
Underinsured motorist coverage offers protection in much the same way; it covers the gap, so to speak, when someone is carrying the state minimum and you have higher liability limits. Your insurance, should someone with low liability limits cause an accident, and your medical bills are much higher than their limits, will cover the difference.
While the justice system does allow one to sue in the event of an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist, the process involved can be very lengthy, and even if a judgement is handed down in your favor against the uninsured / underinsured driver, difficulties may persist in being able to obtain the amount awarded.
Put simply, lack of auto insurance, or low liability limits, often correlates to lack of funds. If the driver could not afford, or could only afford, to carry minimum liability insurance, they may not only have insufficient funds with which to pay a court judgement rendered against them, they may also lack other sources of funding, such as property and possessions, that could be sold to cover such a judgement. So you would have paid legal fees to have nothing to collect.
