Should I carry uninsured motorist coverage?

[cichlid-dave]

Here are some easy definitions. Remember you want both uninsured and UNDERinsured motorist.




Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists coverage comes into play when an uninsured or underinsured motorist is found legally liable for an automobile accident which causes bodily injury to you, a family member and other passengers in your auto at the time of the accident.
In most states, UM and UDM coverage does not protect against physical damage to your car caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver who is found legally liable for an auto accident. Typically, physical damage to your vehicle is covered by the comprehensive and collision portion of your car insurance.


Definition:
Uninsured Motorists Coverage (UM) – A coverage that reimburses you or your passengers who sustain bodily injury caused by an uninsured motorist or a hit-and-run driver.


Underinsured Motorists (UDM) – A coverage that reimburses you or your passengers who sustain bodily injury caused by a driver who is insured, but has insufficient coverage.

 

[pen25]

to save money increase your deductible. allot of times if you put the extra money you save for 1500 you will be better off in the long run. i have UM on all my vehicles. all vehicles are paid off and carry full coverage on my dodge truck only. all others just liability because they arnt worth that much.

 

[cichlid-dave]

To check on the value of your vehicle to make sure you think it is worth keeping comp/coll check out www.kbb.com or www.nada.com

 

[Boehlertaught]

I have UM and medical.

 

[Peace_Maker]

So I'm going to check into if I have UM and how much I have if I do have it.

But I am curious to know why the OP has bad blood with Farmers. I've been with them for several years, I've had one auto claim and one house claim and they treated me right on both. I have a friend that owns an independent insurance agency, he reviewed my homeowners policy and said that it's a great value - he didn't have anything better to offer me. So I'm really curious to know what went wrong for you - I really don't hear much bad about Farmers.

As I said earlier I lost my home and both my vehicles in the May 20th Tornado. The people who handled my auto claims were from the huge Farmers office in OKC and they treated me more than fair and paid the entire claim for both vehicles within a week they also paid for a new car seat two months later no questions asked.

Unfortunately my home claim is being processed out of Kansas City so they have done everything they can do screw me out of every dollar they can. On top of that part of my premiums go to a local agent, this agent has done nothing whatsoever to help. The only calls I have received from my agent was to buy more insurance, in fact I received a call on May 24th asking if I received a letter from my agent asking if I wanted to buy life insurance they had no clue my house was gone. Yesterday they called me asking if I had proof my roof was replaced in 2008, that was the last straw for me. I had already insured my new home with USAA and after that I put my vehicles on USAA as well and was happy to cancel all insurance with farmers today. I urge everyone to research claim satisfaction for the insurance carriers, farmers is one of the worst insurance companies and USAA is one of the best and honestly the prices are not much different. YMMV but at this point I'd pay twice as much to not have farmers as my insurance provider.

At this point after being denied by fema, ignored by the red cross, united way etc, and screwed by farmers, my last hope is getting twenty cents on the dollar on my losses from the IRS in tax breaks.

 

[Shadowrider]

You can also drop the amount of UM down. The insurance companies just default to your liability amount. Drop it or add to it as you see fit. In this state I carry it, but I'm self employed too. And yes I do have a health plan that will cover me.

 

[inactive]

You can also drop the amount of UM down. The insurance companies just default to your liability amount. Drop it or add to it as you see fit. In this state I carry it, but I'm self employed too. And yes I do have a health plan that will cover me.

That default is state law, by the way. In order to drop it our reduce it, you have to sign a waiver. Just FYI. Insurers sure would like to not mess with that paperwork if they didn't have to.

understand even your own insurance company is not your friend.

This is very true, even when you work for them


I'll clarify my initial post to say that I would keep UM but the premium is prohibitively expensive for me. So I'm speculating and going with my health insurance only. The coverage is good, as others had mentioned. But weight the cost and decide if it's worth it given you other coverage and live scenario.

 

[nich018]

I have UM and full coverage, always have.

 

[Shadowrider]

That default is state law, by the way. In order to drop it our reduce it, you have to sign a waiver. Just FYI. Insurers sure would like to not mess with that paperwork if they didn't have to.

Yes, and I used to sign those waivers too. Let me also clarify. I used to drop UM when I had employer provided health coverage which was good, but I also purchased a bunch more of the AD&D, short term and long term disability that was available to me. Those were cheap and I don't have those now. When you are paying for stuff out of your own pocket you oddly become more informed of your needs. Funny how that works...

 

[BikerHT]

I have always had these coverages for all my vehicles. Small price to pay. My current Uninsured/Underinsured coverage on my policy for my Ford F-450 and 42' 5th-wheel RV. $100,000/$300,000 The annual premium for this coverage is only $36.

I wouldn't be without it.

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