Under And Uninsured Motorist Claims: What’s The Difference?

We live in a world where it seems like there is just too much insurance to purchase. But when it comes to Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist (UM) coverage, it may be a good idea to reconsider, before you say no to protecting yourself.

When Does Uninsured Motorist Coverage Apply?

UM insurance is really two kinds of coverage: Uninsured motorist, and underinsured motorist coverage.

Uninsured motorist coverage applies in two situations.

The first situation is where someone hits you or causes an accident, and they have no insurance at all.

But it can also apply, where the negligent driver that caused your accident, cannot be located. Think, for example, of someone who flees the scene of the accident before police can come. Or, think of a vehicle that swerves, causes an accident, but then drives away. Or the classic hit and run driver.

In all of these scenarios, there is a “phantom driver.” How do you sue someone you cannot find? The answer is that you would sue your own UM coverage, which would act like the other, nowhere-to-be-found driver, and your own UM would pay you the way the other driver would have had to, had he or she been located.

Underinsured Motorist Claims

Underinsured motorist coverage (which is sometimes called UIM coverage) is a bit different. As the name suggests, here we have an actual Defendant or negligent driver, and they had insurance. They just didn’t have enough insurance to fully compensate you for your injuries.

Imagine for example, someone who causes a major accident resulting in the paralysis of a victim, but the negligent driver only had $25,000 of insurance. That is clearly way less than what the paralyzed victim would need. That means that the underinsured motorist coverage would step in, and pay the difference to the victim (up to the UM’s policy limits).

Getting UM Coverage

You can get UM not just for your bodily injuries, but also to protect you against losses related to damage to your property or vehicle.

It is not mandatory to carry any kind of UM or UIM coverage. It is mandatory to carry liability coverage (that is, the insurance that pays other people, in case you negligently injure them). The problem is that state mandated liability coverage is very low, and many people just purchase the minimum policy that they can. That makes the purchase of UM/UIM coverage even more important.

Suing Your UM Carrier

If you do need to make a claim to collect UM/UIM, when you sue, you would be suing your own insurance company—the company that issued you the UM/UIM policy. Many people are fooled into thinking that because the UM/UIM is “their own insurance,” that the UM/UIM will simply pay you what is owed or that they will confess liability and fully compensate you without putting up a flight. .

That isn’t true—they will put up a fight, just like the other driver (or that driver’s insurance company) would have done, if he or she could have been found or if he was fully insured.

Car accident cases are not easy. We can help. Contact our Rhode Island injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates at 401-453-2700 today.

Source:

rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/230-20-05-1