Tom McCutcheon – Attorney at Law
Q: My husband and I carry uninsured motorist coverage on our vehicles, motorcycle and camper. We have been told by some that it is not necessary since your medical insurance will cover this and both will not pay therefore you are paying for something you don’t need. My question is, is that true?” Do we not need uninsured motorist since we have medical insurance? We don’t want to spend money we don’t have to but we sure do not want to be under covered. Things have a way of biting you and we don’t want to be bitten.
Sherri
A: Uninsured motorist coverage is one of the most important types of coverage anyone can have. In fact, unless you reject it in writing the Alabama Legislature has mandated that you have uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured also means underinsured. That means that if your injuries exceed the amount of coverage provided by the person that caused the accident you have coverage on top of that.
Your medical insurance will cover your medical bills less your deductible and co-pays. That leaves a lot of medical bills unpaid. Your medical insurance pays nothing for lost wages, loss of earning capacity in the future, permanent injuries or pain and suffering.
If your job required you to be fairly active and move about from one place to another inside a business or plant and your feet, ankles, legs or hips were badly injured and you couldn’t do your job anymore, your health insurance pays nothing for your future lost wages. Your health insurance pays nothing for your inability to play with your children, go fishing, hunting or camping. Your loss of ability to move about the world is worth a lot of money. What would you pay not to be crippled? That is what it is worth. Insurance companies don’t want to pay what it is worth but a jury can try to balance the scales. Without insurance coverage or assets, it would be a waste of time to get an uncollectible judgment.
Your health insurance is very important and your medical payment coverage on your vehicle sometimes helps pay your out of pocket expenses. Both of these coverages ignore the very real pain, suffering and inconvenience caused by someone not following the rules of the road.
Remember that these coverages stack so that if you have an RV and another car or motorcycle covered, those coverages add together to give you a total amount of uninsured/underinsured coverage available.
Buckle up and drive safely.
