Proper insurance coverage is very important for you to have, in order to protect you and your loved ones. Liability coverage is used in situations where you cause someone else's injury, and the amount you should have depends on your assets. Uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist coverage protects you when another person causes a vehicle accident and is uninsured.
If you have significant assets (i.e., you own your own home, etc.), then you need to purchase higher automobile liability coverage (we recommend at least $300,000 or $500,000 minimum). If you can afford the additional expense, you should consider a $1,000,000 liability policy, together with an umbrella policy on top of that. If you only have a small liability policy, there is a likelihood that the injured person will come after you personally to obtain your assets.
if you have no assets, then the amount of liability coverage does not need to be high.
Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Uninsured Motorist coverage (UM) covers you in the event an uninsured motorist causes an accident.
Underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) covers you in situations where you may suffer serious injuries, but are struck with somebody with a small policy (i.e., $15,000). If you have sufficiently high underinsured motorist policy limits, then the person who caused the accident will pay the $15,000.00 limit of their policy and then you will be able to get full value for your damages and injuries from your own insurance company to the full extent of the amount of your underinsured motorist policy. For example, if you have a $500,000 underinsured motorist policy to protect you and your loved ones and you are struck by a motorist with a $15,000 policy, then in California, you will be entitled to receive the difference: $485,000.00, or in other states, you will be able to receive the entire $515,000.
The same scenario applies to situations where you are struck with someone with no insurance. Now we all know that people have to have automobile insurance, but many people for various reasons do not. Therefore, you can buy coverage called UM coverage that will protect you in the event you are struck by somebody with no insurance. An example of the way that would work is you or a loved one in your family sustains serious injuries when you are at a dead stop and are hit by somebody with no insurance. If you have sufficiently high UM coverage, then you will make your claim directly with your own insurance company to the full extent of the amount of your UM policy. Again, we recommend that you have at least $500,000.00 UM coverage and if you can afford it, you should buy a $1,000,000.00 policy together with an umbrella, if companies will write that coverage for you. This way you will be fully protected in the event that you are injured by somebody with no insurance.
I also urge all of you to talk to your insurance brokers to find out how much the additional costs are for raising your UM or UIM coverages. I think you will find that most people's experience will show that the additional cost is minimal for example to raise your UM or UIM insurance from $50,000.00 to $500,000.00 will be less than $100.00 per year as an average. Of course, each company's rates are different and your own insurance broker will be able to give you an accurate quote. This is not a coverage that insurance companies like to write, and your own broker or agent probably will not tell you about it. You have to be proactive to make sure that you get the coverage that you need.
In conclusion, I urge each and every one of you to review your auto insurance policy to see how much UM and UIM coverage you have. If your coverages are not sufficiently high, I urge you to call your insurance broker or insurance agent to raise your UM and UIM limits to a minimum of $500,000.00.
A. Jason Kerckhoff is a San Diego serious injury lawyer and the President of Kerckhoff Law, APC, a San Diego serious injury law firm dedicated to representing people who have been seriously injured or killed, and the families of loved ones who have suffered death caused by the negligence of another.
A. Jason Kerckhoff has been successfully obtaining excellent results for his clients for more than twenty-five years. He has the highest rating in Martindale-Hubbell, which is the preeminent company that rates attorneys not only for their abilities, but for their ethics. These ratings are obtained by peers in the San Diego community, and a small percentage of lawyers are privileged to have achieved this rating.
Serving all of southern California, including Cardiff, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Rancho Santa Fe, and Solana Beach.
