Hello, my name is James Bridge. I’m with the attorneys’ office of Bailey & Galyen. I’ve been a personal injury attorney for 22 years. I would like to discuss with you, the difference between uninsured motorist and undersinsured motorist coverages.
Uninsured coverages are if you’re hit by someone who does not have liability coverages. This coverage allows you to collect for your lost wages, your medical damages, and any pain & suffering that you might incur as a result of someone else’s negligence.
Underinsured coverages are if you are hit by someone who doesn’t have enough coverages to cover you for your damages, and therefore you have to go to your own policy to recover for those same damages that that person caused.
There’s always been a question of people saying “Do I need to have UIM coverages?”. That includes underinsured and uninsured coverages. Yes, you do. The reason for that, is very obvious. If you’re hit by somebody that is not covered by insurance, you wanna have and make sure that you have coverages on your own automobile policy, to cover you for your damages. If you are hit by somebody that does not have enough insurance, you want to make sure that you have UIM coverages to make sure that you are taken care of for your bodily injury and any out-of-pocket expenses and lost wages and pain and suffering.
The cost is very negligible compared to what it will cost you if you do not have those coverages. For example, if you’re hit by somebody that has no insurance and you don’t have UIM coverages, then you basically have no recovery. There’s no way to recover from that person, or from the insurance company, or from your own insurance company for your damages.
So, I encourage you to go out and purchase that additional coverage, it does not cost that much more than your typical liability coverages because it is very rarely used. You wanna make sure that you’re protected and protect your family.
So if you’re ever involved in a motor vehicle accident and you have some questions about if you have UIM coverages, I encourage you to call Bailey & Galyen. Ask for myself or any other qualified, experienced personal injury attorneys in our firm. We’ll be happy to help you and guide you through the process to make sure that you recover all the damages that you are entitled to, including pain and suffering.
