After you’ve been hit by another driver, once you make sure everyone is okay, you want to collect all of the other driver’s information, including their driver’s license number and car insurance details. That is, if the other driver has insurance.
In Texas, 20% of all drivers do not have car insurance. Even though it’s required by law, some people make the choice to drive without it. If you’re hit by a driver who doesn’t have insurance, they made the conscious choice to break the law and leave you to deal with the consequences. To protect yourself against underinsured and uninsured drivers, know all your options when it comes to insurance, and make sure you have enough. Here’s how to do that.
Know All Your Insurance Options
Over the years, we have seen far too many people come into our office who’ve been hit by another driver who doesn’t have insurance, or by a driver who leaves the scene. We have seen folks have to fight with their own insurance to get the coverage they have paid for. We have also learned that many folks don't know all their options when it comes to car insurance. And in our time working with car wreck victims, we have realized how important additional coverage is.
Based on what we see every day, we highly recommend that most drivers get uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, also known as UM/UIM.
Uninsured Motorist Insurance (UM)
Uninsured motorist coverage protects you when another driver does not have insurance, when a driver’s insurance has lapsed, or in a hit-and-run situation. This is optional coverage that you pay for every month. While it is optional, we highly encourage everyone to get it. It protects you and your family in a wreck where a driver pulls a hit-and-run or chooses not to pay for insurance. Otherwise, you’ll be left without the coverage necessary to put back the pieces of your life following a car wreck.
Underinsured Motorist Insurance (UIM)
Underinsured motorist coverage protects you when the other driver has insurance but it is not enough to cover the full extent of your injuries and damages.
In Texas, the minimum insurance policy requirement for an at fault driver is $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. If you elect not to get underinsured coverage, once that at-fault driver’s insurance coverage of $30,000 runs out, you will be left without a secondary source of coverage. While it may sound like a lot, $30,000 goes quickly. Unless the damage caused by the other driver is minimal, most life-changing car wrecks require far more than $30,000 in medical expenses alone. This doesn’t even begin to include the full impact of the wreck on a person's life and the lives of their family members. For anyone who suffers a traumatic brain injury, an amputation, broken femur, or any other life-changing injury, $30,000 is not enough. We know it’s hard to imagine these scenarios, but facing them without enough insurance to cover your or a loved one’s injuries, pain, and suffering is even scarier.
Do We Have Enough Insurance?
While it’s up to you how much coverage you choose to have, the Button Law Firm encourage you to take a second look at your policy. Print out your insurance policy and answer the following questions:
1) Do we have uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist (UM) coverage?
2) If so, how much coverage do we have?
3) Is it enough?
Get a Policy Review
At the Button Law Firm, we want every driver to be protected, and we know navigating insurance policies isn’t easy. That’s why we offer free policy reviews to Texas drivers. Contact us to get your policy review, and get on the road to protecting you and your family from uninsured and underinsured drivers.
