We were recently retained on a case where our client was hit while riding his bicycle. Fortunately he was wearing a helmet, but he still had some significant injuries which included fractured ribs, a broken wrist, and soft tissue injuries to his neck and back. The driver that hit him had a $15,000 policy. The bicyclist had a $50,000 underinsured motorist policy.
So when it’s all said and done, after going to the hospital, doctors, physical therapy…what is the most our client can end up with? $50,000-NOT $65,000. (and perhaps some medical pay coverage he might have) If insurance was not any issue, the value of his case could easily exceed $50,000.
In dealing with your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, first understand that it covers you if you’re walking, riding a bike, skateboarding… and hit by another vehicle. There is tremendous security in knowing that if you are a victim of a car accident, even outside of your vehicle, you may still have coverage.
Now, the way uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage works is if you have this type of coverage, your insurer first gets a set off of whatever amount in insurance you receive first. So let’s say you have a $50k uninsured motorist policy. You’re feeling pretty good about yourself since it’s significantly more than the $15,000 policy limit some people carry in liability coverage. Now imagine you are a pedestrian in a crosswalk and a car hits you. You suffer significant injuries and miss 8 weeks of work. (we have this case) If the “at fault” driver has a $30,000 policy, the most you can recover from your $50,000 underinsured motorist policy is $20,000. Your case might be worth much more, but with only $50,000 policy limits for underinsured motorist coverage, that is all your insurance has to pay.
If you have questions about your underinsured/uninsured policy limits, contact your insurance agent and confirm you have uninsured/underinsured coverage of at least the amount of your underlying coverage. 2013 data from the Insurance Research Council indicates that 16% of all drivers in California are uninsured and 40% of all vehicles 15 years or older are uninsured. This doesn’t even include those that have a minimal $15,000 policy. What makes things even more complicated is that an insurance company does not have to offer you insured/underinsured limits at the same level as your other insurance, just a minimum $15,000 policy. Which means that you could have a million dollar liability policy and $15,000 in underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage. If you’re hit by an uninsured driver, you can only go after $15,000, which, if you have a catastrophic injury-let alone need any type of medical care, covers nothing. Please also note that your insurer is required to have you sign off if you decline uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, but you don’t have to sign off on anything if your carrier only offers you a minimal policy which is less than your liability coverage. If you’re involved in an accident and not sure what your options are or have any questions, please contact Lieber & Lieber Law Group, LLP.
