UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE
A Car Accident Lawyer’s Advice
Uninsured Motorist Coverage might be the most important coverage you need to purchase on your automobile policy. If you are involved in a car accident with an uninsured driver, you will need to have this coverage to pay for your vehicle damage, medical bills, and pain and suffering. Important things to note about Uninsured Motorist coverage:
- UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE IS NOT MANDATORY IN WASHINGTON, don’t assume you have this coverage.
- If you are reading this and have been told you have “full coverage” check your policy to find out if you have this coverage as many insurance companies throw the phrase “full coverage” around and do not fully explain your coverage.
- Uninsured motorist coverage also includes UNDERinsured motorist coverage. This means your own coverage can stack on top of the other driver’s policy if they are carrying the state minimum coverage of $25,000.00.
- Uninsured Motorist coverage covers you when you are a pedestrian.
- It is very common for insurance companies to delete this coverage to make their rate more attractive.
Purchase Uninsured Motorist coverage
Picture a scenario where you are hit by an uninsured driver and suffer serious injuries that require you to have surgery and miss work for weeks. You have no income due to your injuries and mounting medical bills. You might also be without a vehicle if it is a total loss. The person who hit you has no insurance, no assets and no job. You can sue them and enter a judgment, but they will never be able to pay the judgment and can declare bankruptcy and eliminate this debt, never paying you a penny. How do you protect yourself from this scenario? Purchase Uninsured Motorist coverage.
Many of our car accidents cases in Bremerton, Tacoma, Port Orchard, Poulsbo, etc. involve uninsured drivers. Kitsap County and Pierce County have thousands of uninsured drivers driving on the road as you read this blog. Protect yourself, confirm you have this coverage, and if you aren’t sure if you have this coverage, contact your insurance agent immediately and add this coverage. It literally could change your life.
Uninsured Motorist Cases We’ve Handled
Below is just an example of cases we have handled involving uninsured motorist coverage that completely changed the outcomes of a case for our clients.
- Port Orchard motorcycle accident where a driver pulled their car out in front of an oncoming motorcycle resulting in our client suffering multiple leg fractures. Thankfully, this motorcyclist had Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage as the medical bills totaled over $240,000.00. The driver of the car who hit him had $25,000.00 liability coverage. Without having Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage, our client would have received very little to help compensate him for his pain and suffering.
- Bremerton car accident, client is involved in a rear-end automobile accident and driver has no insurance whatsoever. Client suffers serious neck injuries and must undergo surgery on her spine. Thankfully, client had purchased great Uninsured Motorist coverage through Pemco Insurance and received a large settlement.
- Silverdale car accident involving multiple parties. The at-fault party responsible for the accident had minimum coverage of $25,000.00 per person/$50,000.00 per accident. Five different individuals were injured and forced to divide the $50,000.00. Our client had Underinsured Motorist coverage, and this allowed us to seek additional recovery for medical bills, pain and suffering, etc. This resulted in a great settlement for our client.
- Bremerton car accident involving a pedestrian where the vehicle who hit him was never identified as they fled the scene of the accident. Our client was the pedestrian and was covered by his uninsured motorist coverage (yes, you are covered by your auto insurance policy even when you are walking). This case resulted in all the medical bills being covered and a large settlement.
- Tacoma car accident case involved a client driving to work early in the morning. Was struck head on by a large SUV that fled the scene. The SUV was never located, but we were able to obtain a large arbitration award for our client under his Uninsured Motorist coverage.
The above is just a handful of examples where clients benefited greatly by having this additional coverage on their policy. If you have been involved in an accident and have questions about how uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist coverage works, please contact our office for a free consultation (360) 377-7100
