Let’s face it…life is expensive. No matter what stage in life you find yourself, the ever-rising costs of living can be overwhelming. Whether you are trying to save for retirement, getting ready to buy your first home, or trying to pay down college debt, juggling expenses is always a challenge. When setting budgets one area in which people frequently look to save is on their auto insurance. Looking for insurance savings is fine, but be careful when bargain shopping.
Don’t Skimp on Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Attorney, Thomas McLaughlin
Although it is advantageous to compare insurance carriers for the best rates and to bundle home and auto policies for savings, do not cut back your insurance coverage. This is especially true when considering uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage limits.
Connecticut law requires all cars registered in the state to carry liability insurance and uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance. However, with high costs of medical treatment, the minimum levels of required coverage are frequently not enough to fully protect accident victims from the price of injury and impairment. Additionally, there are many out-of-state drivers on Connecticut’s roadways whose state insurance requirements are less than the coverage minimums set in Connecticut. More alarmingly, not all Connecticut drivers abide by the state requirements.
Enforcement of Connecticut’s mandatory coverage requirements is difficult and in hard economic times, such as the present, many drivers go either uninsured or underinsured. The Insurance Research Council, an independent, nonprofit research organization, estimates that 9.4% of Connecticut’s licensed drivers are driving without insurance. The national uninsured rate is even higher at 13%. Countrywide, this amounts to roughly one in eight drivers on the road being uninsured. If you are reading this as a snowbird who spends a portion of time in Florida the statistics are more shocking as approximately 26.7% of drivers in the state of Florida are uninsured.
For these reasons, having proper uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is extremely important. What exactly is uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage? It is an auto insurance policy provision that protects insured drivers and passengers from other motorists who are not carrying adequate insurance. It provides benefits to policyholders for bodily injuries caused by another driver who has no insurance or not enough insurance to cover the losses said the driver has caused. At Cloutier & Cassella, LLC, we see many cases each year in which our clients are injured by motorists who have inadequate coverage and limited assets to cover the resultant damages. In these cases, whether or not the victim is made whole and fully compensated for his/her loss often comes down to the amount of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage available.
Bottom line, to protect yourself, make sure you have adequate uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Overall, paying a little extra per month to increase your uninsured/underinsured is rarely a bad idea. We recommend reviewing your automobile insurance coverage on, at least, an annual basis to make sure you are properly covered. If you are driving without adequate coverage, you may be needlessly putting yourself at risk each time you are behind the wheel. Give yourself some peace of mind by calling your insurance company to make sure you are properly insured, rather than waiting for a collision to find out.
Thomas McLaughlin at Cloutier & Cassella, LLC represents individuals who have been injured in automobile accidents, truck accidents, and pedestrian accidents that were caused by the negligence of other drivers. He has over a decade of experience as a trial attorney working with individuals to obtain the best settlement possible for their personal injury claims. If you or someone you know has been involved in an auto accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist, please call Attorney McLaughlin at Cloutier & Cassella, LLC, and set up your free no-obligation consultation today. While you concentrate on getting well, our experienced attorneys will take care of the legal details and pursue every avenue of liability to secure the financial compensation you deserve.
Thomas McLaughlin - (860) 388-3456 - tmclaughlin@cclawos.com