Should I carry uninsured motorist coverage?

[Peace_Maker]

I have learned the value of having good insurance and I am dumping farmers for USAA. I put my vehicles in USAA and noticed my premiums were somewhat higher than farmers which is to be expected but I also noticed that my USAA policy has 300/100 uninsured motorist coverage. As I understand this will not pay for my vehicle if hit by an uninsured driver but it will pay medical costs. I have never carried this coverage because I have excellent health insurance that basically pays everything. If I drop this coverage I will save about $300 a year. I am considering dropping it on all three vehicles or just dropping it on the two vehicles we drive the least. Anyone think I should keep it?

 

[reddog1]

I keep it.

 

[prophet]

I went from farmers to usaa and saved about $400 a year, as did most of my family. Id keep uninsured motorist due to the number of uninsured drivers out here.

 

[KOPBET]

I waive it.

 

[0311]

I keep it. A lot of times people driving around causing accidents don't even have a drivers license.

 

[candrpotts]

you better have it if my agent's information is reliable........ 1 in 4 drivers are uninsured

 

[KOPBET]

you better have it if my agent's information is reliable........ 1 in 4 drivers are uninsured

I already pay elsewhere for medical insurance.

 

[ttown]

Keep it. This has nothing to do with uninsured motorist. Here's 2 example that happened to my family.

My son at 16 had a T-bird he had some kids in the car that he shouldn't have and the car died going down a big hill. He had limited experence and must have freak out and lock the wheel of the car which driffed off a brige and the car dropped about 20 feet. The insurance covered everyone in the car except him (the driver). I had medical at work but they won't pay for a car accident, guess what I had to do.

Case 2 happend to my brother in Alanta. A car rear ended his Range Rover he was badly hurt and required back surgery.
The cost of the operation was $150k up front, his medical won't cover it, the young lady didn't have enough insurance so unless you have uninsured motorist you come up with the rest. They checked in to what they had to see if they could sue but they owed on everything. He could have ruined thier lives but they both have very good jobs so he paid out of his pocket. He contacted everyone in the family because this was news to him.

I just added more to mine you buy it once and it's good on all your cars State Farm said.

hope that helps.

 

[FullAuto]

It pays more than just medical bills. It will pay lost wages if your injury makes you miss work. It will pay pain & suffering. It will also cover if you are a pedestrian and hit by a car, if your kid is on the school bus or daycare van and in a wreck, if you are a passenger in a friend's car, etc. It's a very broad coverage.

Do you have a deductible for office visits or physical therapy visits? I had 19 months of physical therapy, 3x per week after my wreck. Add that up at $20 each copay (that's if your insurance doesn't have an annual limit for PT). Do you have to pay a percentage of your bills, like 20%? That's pretty common. I had a little over $200k in medical bills. I was off work for 7 months. Do you have your Suze Orman 8 month emergency fund to pay your bills? I have good health insurance too, but it won't pay me my lost wages. The person that hit me had 100/300/100 liability. That 100k would cover my lost wages, my portion of the medical bills (had mine not been a work comp claim) and some of the P&S.... BUT health insurance (and in my case, work comp) will (and did) slap a lien on that settlement. They want their money back. You will get nothing.

Carry UM. Carry a LOT of UM. I raised my UM coverage from 25/50 to 500/500 after my wreck.

Anyone think they are going to hit the lottery on a work comp claim better think again. 25% permanent disability after your lawyer takes their cut won't even get you a new truck.

 

[inactive]

Keep it. This has nothing to do with uninsured motorist. Here's 2 example that happened to my family.

My son at 16 had a T-bird he had some kids in the car that he shouldn't have and the car died going down a big hill. He had limited experence and must have freak out and lock the wheel of the car which driffed off a brige and the car dropped about 20 feet. The insurance covered everyone in the car except him (the driver). I had medical at work but they won't pay for a car accident, guess what I had to do.

Case 2 happend to my brother in Alanta. A car rear ended his Range Rover he was badly hurt and required back surgery.
The cost of the operation was $150k up front, his medical won't cover it, the young lady didn't have enough insurance so unless you have uninsured motorist you come up with the rest. They checked in to what they had to see if they could sue but they owed on everything. He could have ruined thier lives but they both have very good jobs so he paid out of his pocket. He contacted everyone in the family because this was news to him.

I just added more to mine you buy it once and it's good on all your cars State Farm said.

hope that helps.

Case 1 - your liability would have covered the passengers due to your son's negligence, had you not had UM.

Case 2 - private medical insurance DOES cover that (medical care due to car accidents) in most ALL cases, but they retain the right to subrogate against the responsible party and/or their insurance carrier.


UM is not a bad deal, but in many cases it's too expensive because it applies to too many cases in OK. You can even double dip and get payment twice in some instances. This makes the premium so high I generally don't think it's worth it if one already has medical insurance. For the record, I'm an adjuster so I see all kind of weird cases of abuse and liberal interpretations of policy coverages in OK tort cases.