In my forties as a so-called "Middle aged" person, I have been asking myself what the most important things in my life are. I am lucky enough to have robust health, an excellent career, financial independence, and close friends. My family is most important, though. I will do anything to protect their futures because I cherish them more than anything in the world.
One way to protect my family is to ensure that, in the event of a tragedy, they will be provided for. My family knows I care because I purchased underinsured motorist insurance. According to the law in California, all drivers must carry liability insurance for driving a motor vehicle. In reality several drivers do not carry any insurance. Anytime you get injuries from an accident with an uninsured motorist, your uninsured motorist insurance policy will cover these personal injuries up to the specified amount of your policy. But what happens when the at-fault driver has liability insurance, but only enough to cover some, not all, of your losses? In this case, having underinsured motorist insurance is a critical factor in protecting your family.
Additional insurance that will cover above and beyond the at-fault driver's liability insurance is provided to your family with underinsured motorist insurance. Underinsured motorist insurance is included in your uninsured motorist coverage at no additional cost. In the above case, your insurance would pick up payment for losses once the at-fault driver's insurance runs out. Nevertheless, there are two important previsions. The first is that your uninsured motorist coverage must be more than the at-fault driver carries in liability insurance. For instance, if the at-fault driver carries $15,000 of liability insurance, and you carry $15,000 of underinsured motorist, the most you can receive is $15,000, regardless of the extent of your injuries.
Essentially, your underinsured motorist coverage is useless in this case. However, if the at-fault driver has $15,000 of liability insurance, and you have $100,000 of underinsured motorist insurance, you can receive up to $100,000 in insurance benefits. Therefore, in order to protect your loved ones, you should purchase generous amounts of uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance. Another catch is that the majority of carriers won't permit you to purchase more motorist coverage than you already have in liability coverage. As a result, you may be buying liability insurance that exceeds your needs. Contrary to what you may think, liability insurance and uninsured/underinsured motorist payments are not overly expensive.
Most of the cost of your premium comes from lowering the limit on your policy. So it turns out, the more insurance you buy, the more you save. One critical device for your family's protection is a substantial uninsured/underinsured motorist policy. Not having it would be like removing the roof from your home, leaving you with little protection from the elements.
And if you're like me, you want to make sure your family has a sturdy roof over their heads.
Barry Edzant, an experienced Los Angeles car accident attorney with many years of experience is also a California lemon law lawyers and one of many Los Angeles lemon law attorney. As an experienced lawyer, he has seen many underinsured drivers and knows how devastating it is. That's why he always recommends getting underinsured motorist insurance.
