How important is uninsured motorist coverage?

Answer 1

If you have medical insurance, Uninsured Motorist coverage is NOT important. Your medical insurance will already pay your medical bills. The only people that recommend this coverage are lawyers, insurance agents, and insurance associations. That is because they make money off of selling it to you. They will point out that this coverage also pays for lost wages and pain and suffering. That may be true, however many people have disability insurance through their employer. And do your really need insurance to protect you against pain and suffering? Do you carry insurance for pain and suffering caused by other things? (such as the death of a loved one?).. Then why would you pay for pain and suffering insurance in this case? And another thing, in order to collect anything under this coverage, you will NEED a lawyer. This is because in order to collect from your insurance, you must first sue the other driver, obtain a legal judgment against them, and then prove to the insurance company that the driver can not pay. In short, they make you jump through hoops in order to collect anything. So conclusion: this coverage is not important at all. Put the money towards medical insurance and disability insurance if you don't already have them because they are MUCH more important, and skip this coverage.

Answer

Reasonable minds might differ on this answer, and I adamantly beg to do so.

First of all, many people do not have health or disability insurance for any number of reasons. One of the prime reasons for not having health insurance is the existence of a pre-existing which can preclude coverage, at least for a period of time. If a collision occurs in the interim and the individual is injured, they are out of luck. In contrast, there is no limitation on the availability of uninsured motorist coverage. As to disability insurance, the employers that offer it usually limit it to short-term disability coverage (such as 90-120 days); and individual disability policies are normally quite costly.

Second, health insurance policies are subject to deductibles and co-payments. A deductible is the amount of expense that has to be incurred before the insurer's obligation to pay is triggered. A co-payment is that percentage of a covered expense that the insured bears responsibility for. For example, an 80/20 policy means that the insurer pays 80% of the covered expense, and the insured pays 20%. Although this general rule may differ when coverage is provided by a health maintenance organization, it is the rule with respect to more customary health insurance coverage. Likewise, a disability policy normally has an "elimination period". This is conceptually similar to a deductible, but measured in time rather than the amount of medical expense incurred.

Third, and as suggested in the first answer, health insurance does not pay for lost wages or pain and suffering, which can be major elements of a claim from an auto collision. While attorneys representing injured people do get a portion of the recovery as part of a contingent fee, it is pure cynicism to suggest that as a valid reason to reject uninsured motorist coverage. If one is out of work for an extended period, living expenses continue to accrue and there must be a way to pay them. While Personal Injury Protection coverage ("no-fault" insurance) provides some benefits, those benefits are limited. Furthermore, if the injured person sustains a disablement that prevents him/her from working (at all or at the same level of earnings), uninsured motorist coverage may compensate for that loss extrapolated over the remaining life of the injured person.

In sum, uninsured motorist coverage is personal risk management tool. It protects against injuries sustained by innocent (non-negligent) parties who are injured by the carelessness of persons who do not have liability coverage.

It is well worth the expense. And no, I am not a personal injury lawyer.