I was recently contacted by my auto insurance company regarding changes that could have an effect on my coverage. These changes involved uninsured motorist coverage as it pertained to Louisiana's changes in their laws. Just as I was about to go online to see what I could find out about these changes, a friend of mine called just to chat, and I asked him if he knew anything about this. He said he did not, but would not carry uninsured motorist coverage since it applied only to those persons who were riding in his car at the time of the accident. His rationale continued that for more than 95% of the time there were no other passengers in his car, so the coverage was something like throwing his money away. I had never heard such a thing before, and said to the caller that I would check it out. Since I have nearly all of my bills taken from my checking account automatically, I went to my auto insurance company's web site to determine what the premium would be this year. While there, I checked my coverages, then saw this statement regarding Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury coverage: "Pays for your injuries caused by a driver without insurance." This certainly isn't what my friend has been maintaining, but since Louisiana is proud of the fact that we have MORE UNINSURED DRIVERS than any other state in the country, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why someone would choose not to have this coverage. It also explains why Baton Rouge has one of the highest incidences of hit-and-run accidents. The friend came back by saying that his health insurance would pay his hospital costs, but I don't know how true this would be for everyone. Since I am retired and receiving Medicare health insurance, I know that my hospital stays are limited AND that there is a copay involved with everything. So, how about it? Is Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury coverage a rip-off, or is it something everyone should have?
It's not a ripoff. Living in California where many drivers have no drivers license nor insurance, it's an added peace of mind. I know this unfortunately by using it. Also: what's the value of your vehicle? If it's a throw away, no it's not worth it. If it's fairly new, you bet.
"Pays for your injuries caused by a driver without insurance."—and since there are MANY drivers out there without insurance, as Kerry stated above, there's some peace of mind involved in having it.
No offense, but your friend who doesn't carry it is a **** ***** who really doesn't understand the coverage he's waiving. In my last accident I was hit by an uninsured driver. If I hadn't had any uninsured driver coverage, I'd have been SOL. And no, his health insurance isn't going to pay for all of his costs. I don't know of any health insurance that pays 100% of everything. His health insurance likely won't pay for 2 years of physical therapy, home accomodations, and certainly not any kind of facility stay if he needs that. If your friend gets into an accident with an uninsured motorist, I hope he's okay. But I'm betting he's going to be the bitter old man screaming on the street corner about insurance reform, sitting in a 70's era wheelchair from Goodwill with a giant welfare-aid plaster cast on his leg, because his health insurance isn't covering squat and any savings he had are now fairly depleted paying for the mediocre care he could afford.
My belief is that in most states it it referred to as "Uninsured and Underinsured", not merely "Uninsured". I was in an accident once that did some real damage to me. After I had collected from the other person's insurance company to the full extent of their policy, I went back to my insurance company and received additional funds due to the fact that the other person's insurance was insufficient to cover the cost of my injury.
+1000000000 Also, I don't think your friend seems to realize that if he's in an accident with a passenger in the car, without that uninsured motorist coverage, the passenger has no choice but to personally sue him. Dropping this coverage is worrying about pennies, I think mine is less than $10 a year. Pretty sure it would cost more than $10 if there was an accident with an uninsured motorist. Say you drive for 50 years, it's going to have cost you $500 for a life time of uninsured motorist insurance, whereas 1 accident with an uninsured motorist is going to cost you tens of thousands of dollars.
Uninsured motorist coverage is higher than that here. It is $120 per year for my Honda motorcycle, $98 on my Challenger, and $91 for the Grand Marquis. I guess they charge me more for the motorcycle knowing that there is a likelihood that my accident will involve a hit and run driver. Incidentally, hit and run causes additional grief for victims since insurance companies will withhold claims until they are satisfied that the police cannot arrest the perpetrator. Still, the charges I am paying are nothing compared to what major companies charge for monthly health insurance premiums. And then there's Obamacare to watch out for, too.
Well the cost of insurance would be high for me (almost 24) and would sky rocket even higher if I had a nice vehicle. But I'll pay what I need to in order to make sure I'm covered.
The best part about this coverage is the underinsured, some drivers only have minimum, which won't pay for much.
