What happens if you are injured in a car accident where the driver at fault does not have liability car insurance – or does not have enough liability car insurance to cover your damages? This could cause you to be stuck with expensive out-of-pocket expenses, including medical bills and health insurance deductibles. If you are unable to work because of your injuries, you now have lost wages. Uninsured motorist coverage can pay for your medical bills and other expenses if your car accident is caused by a driver who does not have any liability car insurance (or enough) or whose insurance company denies coverage or goes out of business. Continue reading if you’re asking yourself “Do I need uninsured motorist coverage?” Sneak peak – the answer is YES.

Uninsured motorist coverage can pay for medical bills, lost wages due to injury, pain and suffering compensation, funeral expenses, and property damage.. Georgia does not require uninsured motorist coverageso it is important to talk to your insurance broker and/or check your car insurance policy to make sure you have the coverage..

The coverage limit for uninsured motorist coverage is expressed as two numbers. An example is as “100/300”. This means there is $100,000 inbodily injury coverage per person and $300,000 in bodily injury coverage in total for all involoved in the accident. If uninsured motorist coverage does not cover all of the costs, you can still turn to health insurance to cover the rest.  There are two options of UM insurance – “Add On” or “Reduced By”. You will want to select Add On as this is the best coverage. As the name suggests, the amount of coverage simply ‘adds on’ to the available liability coverage. This is as opposed to the Reduced By coverage that will be lowered by the available liability coverage – which in many instances will render the coverage useless.

In Georgia, uninsured motorist coverage can also cover damages caused by a hit-and-run accident – both under uninsured motorist property damage and uninsured motorist bodily injury.

With one in eight drivers across the country not having car insurance, you do not want to take your chances. Having uninsured motorist coverage can protect you and your family from major out-of-pocket costs if a car accident is caused by an uninsured/undersinsured driver.

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/uninsured-motorist-coverage/

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/uninsured-motorist-coverage-01617293014