I have been advocating for many years not only to my clients, but to my friends and family as well, that carrying the most uninsured motorist coverage possible is always in your best interests. This stems from the fact that approximately 40 percent of all drivers in the state of California are uninsured.
Therefore, the likelihood of being involved in an accident with an uninsured motorist is quite substantial. You must prepare yourself for this potential problem.
Uninsured motorist coverage will cover your medical expenses, loss of earnings and pain, suffering and emotional distress stemming from an accident with an uninsured driver who is at fault. Since medical expenses are astronomically high, having substantial uninsured motorist limits, such as $50,000 or $100,000, is essential.
Moreover, if you are involved in a serious accident and the at-fault driver does not have enough liability insurance to cover your injuries, your uninsured motorist coverage now becomes underinsured motorist coverage providing you with additional coverage.
One other reason to carry large limits of uninsured motorist has to do with hit-and-run accidents. Under most policies of insurance, if you are involved in an accident with an unknown, hit-and-run vehicle which is at fault for the accident, your uninsured motorist will pay for your medical expenses, loss of earnings, and pain, suffering and emotional distress.
The law in California requires that if the operator of the hit-and-run vehicle is unknown, your insurance will only take effect if there was physical contact between your vehicle and the hit-and-run vehicle. Absent physical contact, your insurance policy will not take effect. There is actually a very good purpose behind this rule, which is to avoid insurance fraud by simply claiming that a phantom vehicle cut you off and caused you to run your vehicle into a center divider. Your insurance company will investigate your vehicle to find paint transfers or other damage to your vehicle, which would prove an actual contact.
Look for Part 2 in the May issue of The Magazine of Santa Clarita.
Barry L. Edzant handles all personal injury and lemon law matters. He is located at 23920 Valencia Blvd., Suite 245, Valencia. You can also visit him at the Santa Clarita Valley Business Expo in October, booth 305.
For more information, please call 661-222-9929 or visit www.ValenciaLaw.com.
Part 1 of 2