Uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist coverage ("UM" or "UIM") is coverage on your own automobile policy that will kick in to provide you coverage if the at-fault driver does not have any motor vehicle coverage or does not have enough coverage to fully compensate you for your injuries. There are some misconceptions about UM and/or UIM coverage. You do not need this coverage if you have health insurance. You do not need this coverage if you have medical payments coverage on your auto policy. Both are untrue statements. Your health insurance and medical payments coverage will help pay on your medical bills related to your accident, but they will not cover items such as past and future lost wages, pain and suffering, out of pocket expenses, and mental anguish. These additional items are covered under your UM/UIM coverage.
Recently, we have seen several car accident claims in which the at fault driver is uninsured or underinsured and our client has either waived their uninsured motorist coverage in writing, which you should never do or they do not have enough uninsured motorist coverage to fully compensate them for their damages. According to a recent USA Today article, entitled "Uninsured Drivers" by Larry Copeland, one in seven drivers in the US has no automobile insurance. Thus, about 13.8% of US drivers are uninsured. In Alabama, approximately, 22% of drivers are uninsured. Thus, it is vitally important that you protect yourself by not only having uninsured motorist coverage, but making sure you have a sufficient amount of uninsured motorist coverage. Increasing the amount of your UM/UIM coverage is very inexpensive. Thus, we want to encourage everyone to please review their automobile policy to make sure they a sufficient amount of uninsured motorist coverage.
If you have any questions about your uninsured motorist coverage, the Huntsville car accident attorneys at Martinson & Beason, would be glad to speak with you.
For more information on Alabama's Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist law, please see A Guide To Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Law in Alabama.
