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Insurance/Insurance
by Andrew Prince, Esq.

(This article may not be copied or reposted without express consent of Andrew S. Prince.)

We are simply amazed at the number of people who are carrying minimal policies of automobile insurance in the amount of $15,000/$30,000 in addition to motorcycle coverage. The fact that you do not own any assets--which include a house or other valuable possessions--or are not even currently working for that matter, does not provide you with the excuse to have a minimum policy of automobile insurance. The primary purpose for having insurance greater than the minimum is to protect you against the negligence of some other driver who happens to also have a minimum policy of insurance. Remember, 15 percent of the public drives with no insurance and 25 percent of the public drives with minimum coverage.

Under your automobile insurance, you are provided with what is called uninsured and underinsurance motorist protection. The amount provided towards uninsurance/underinsurance should be the equivalent of the amount of automobile insurance which you maintain to protect you against your own negligence. For example, if you were to be involved in an accident with someone else who had a minimum policy of insurance in the amount of $15,000.00 and this person was responsible for the particular accident, and assuming that your injuries, medical bills and lost wages were greater than the $15,000.00 of insurance available, you would be limited to receiving only $15,000.00. However, if you had automobile insurance of your own in excess of $15,000.00, which also provided you uninsured and underinsurance limits in excess of $15,000.00, you would be entitled to receive additional money. If, for example, your insurance was in the amount of $250,000, you would have an additional $235,000 of underinsurance available for your protection. This additional coverage will go a long way to cover medical bills, lost wages and unforseen expenses.

We urge all of you to contact your insurance agents at once to find out how much it would cost you to increase the minimum policy of insurance to a policy of $250,000/$500,000 with equivalent amounts of uninsurance and underinsurance coverage. The increase in the cost of your insurance is well worth the protection. Remember, you do not necessarily have to have $250,000 worth of coverage; you could have $100,000, or for that matter $50,000, which are all better than having a minimum policy in the amount of $15,000.

In conclusion, there is no excuse to be driving around with a minimum policy of insurance, no matter what the savings might be. In the long run, you are only playing "Russian roulette."