A Quick Quiz That Might Save Your Family From Financial Heartbreak

QUICK QUIZ: What is the amount of Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage on the vehicles in your household? Your answer to that question could turn out to be one of the most important to your family’s financial future.

If you do not know, you are not alone. Many of our clients, even the most diligent, do not know the answer to that very important question until after they have been involved in a serious accident.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage may pay for damages when a covered vehicle is damaged and the person at fault for the accident doesn’t have insurance, or doesn’t have enough insurance.

Why is the Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Coverage Amount Important?

No matter how safe you or your family may be in your daily driving, the negligence of some other driver could cause serious injury, medical expenses, lost wages, and permanent injury. If that other driver is uninsured or carries the minimum amount of liability insurance required by North Carolina law ($30,000.00), chances are you and your family will suffer. National studies indicate that one in seven drivers do not even carry the minimum coverage required by state laws, much less an adequate amount to pay for the injuries to others caused in a serious accident.

Imagine a scenario where you and your family are involved in a serious accident caused by a driver with a $30,000.00 per person/$60,000.00 per accident liability insurance policy (the minimum policy required in North Carolina). That means that no matter how seriously any individual in your family were injured, the most insurance that family member could recover would be $30,000.00. No matter how seriously every member of your family was injured, the total amount of coverage for all claims by your family would be $60,000.00! Sure, you may be able to get a judgment against that other driver for more than $60,000.00, but collecting that judgment is a very different story.

The above scenario illustrates why Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage is available. That coverage kicks in where the other driver’s insurance leaves off, essentially adding to the amount of liability coverage you can seek for medical expenses lost wages, pain and suffering, and permanent injury. If you don’t know the answer to the quiz question, find your auto insurance Declaration Page or give your agent a call to find out. The answer could prove critical to the future financial security of your family.

Talk with a Personal Injury Lawyer in Raleigh

Kirk, Kirk, Howell, Cutler & Thomas has experienced personal injury lawyers on staff in Raleigh and Wendell, NC. If you or a loved one has been in an accident, give us a call at (919) 365-6000 to evaluate your case and assess how your insurance coverage could help. Request a case review today!