Lately a lot of clients and potential clients have brought up concerns to me about using their own insurance coverage when involved in a motor vehicle wreck. The common concerns I get are, “Won’t my car insurance rates go up?”, or “Why should I use my insurance when it was somebody else’s fault?” I can understand these concerns; however, this is simply propaganda and stigma that insurance companies have created for the public when using insurance. DON’T LET THEM TRICK YOU. Let me break down how it works.
What kind of coverages are available to me from my own insurance when involved in a car wreck?
When you are involved in a car wreck that is not your fault, a possible coverage that you may have is “personal injury protection” and “uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.”
Are these coverages required?
No, they are not required. Lots of car insurance companies supply this to their customers as an addition to your coverage; however, it is not required in Texas. Also, this is an additional coverage to the state required liability insurance coverage. What that means is, if your car insurance has this kind of coverage, you are paying extra money for it.
What is the difference between Personal Injury Protection and Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage?
Personal injury protection is a coverage that is available to cover medical expenses up until a certain amount of money, depending on your coverage. Basic personal injury protection coverage is $2,500. You can increase this amount of coverage; however, it will cost you more money per month on your insurance coverage. Personal injury protection covers strict medical expenses and not pain and suffering. Uninsured/Underinsured motorist coverage is additional amount of money available to you if you are involved in a car wreck. Uninsured motorist coverage is when the at fault party has no insurance to cover you for your injuries. Underinsured motorist coverage covers you on top of whatever maximum amount of liability insurance the at fault party has. The basic coverage for this is $30,000 per person and $60,000 for the overall occurrence. This coverage can also be increased; however, it will cost you more money per month on your insurance coverage.
Do I need this coverage?
I would highly recommend it. If you refer to another post, I go into depth at why this coverage is important. Driving around Texas can be very dangerous. Unfortunately, there are a lot of drivers that either drive illegally with no insurance or drive with basic insurance coverage, which is not a lot when involved in a severe car wreck.
I was involved in a car wreck where the other driver had no insurance. Won’t my insurance go up if I use my uninsured motorist insurance?
This question is by far the most frustrating question to answer to clients and potential clients. As mentioned before, uninsured motorist coverage is an ADDITIONAL cost that you are paying for car insurance. The purpose of this coverage is to protect you from this exact kind of situation. If you are not going to use your insurance to cover you for the exact reason why it is available, then why even pay for the additional insurance coverage in the first place? I have a very hard time understanding this.
A uninsured motorist insurance coverage is a no fault insurance claim. Your insurance rates are not supposed to go up. However, that does not mean insurance companies don’t raise your rates. Sometimes, insurance companies will raise your rates but categorize is as something else and not cause of the original claim. Most of the time your rates will not go up; however, there have been times where the insurance company does decide to raise your rate.
What about Personal Injury Protection? If I use that, will my rates go up as well?
This applies the same way for Personal Injury Protection. Personal injury protection is there to help pay for your medical bills that you may have incurred due to a car wreck. That’s the EXACT purpose of the coverage. If you are not going to use it, then why even pay for it in the first place.
In the end, you are paying ADDITIONAL money for these insurance coverages when you are involved in a car wreck. Why would you not use it for the exact situation that it is available for. I always tell clients, if you don’t use this coverage, then you are essentially giving free money to your insurance company for no reason. Don’t feel like you owe a duty to your insurance company to save them money. Take it from a lawyer who deals with insurance companies on a regular basis, most if not all insurance companies are not interested in saving you money when it comes down to it. When you are involved in a car wreck, your insurance company is not going to tell you what kind of money you have available to you to cover you for your losses.
