The name of the coverage sounds like it came directly out of an insurance text book right? While the name is complex the coverage itself is relatively straight forward and if you live in North Carolina not very expensive.
If you look at your auto declaration page, you will see a line item that typically says Uninsured Underinsured Bodily Injury Coverage. The simple definition is if someone hits you and causes injuries to you and the passengers in your car, and that driver does not have any insurance (Uninsured) or does not have enough insurance (Underinsured) this coverage will kick in. It will provide coverage for the injuries up to the limits shown on your declaration page.
You may also see Uninsured Property Damage on your declaration page. That coverage is for if someone hits you who has no insurance this coverage will pay for the damage to your car up to the limit shown. There is a deductible but it is small.
Don’t worry if you only see one charge for each of these coverages on your declaration page. You only pay one charge for all the vehicles on the policy. If you don’t see these coverages at all it is a good time to call your agent. If you live and do all your driving in North Carolina, you have about a 10% chance of being hit be a driver with no insurance. While those odds are not that bad there are not good statistics on how many people don’t carry adequate insurance. In North Carolina drivers are only required to carry $30,000 per person with a $60,000 maximum for the accident for bodily injury coverage. If your family of 4 is in the car $60,000 is a very small amount to cover medical expenses for injuries. That makes having Uninsured Underinsured Coverage worth the small additional charge.
Check out our You Tube Channel for a great short video clip about Uninsured and Underinsured Coverage. Click Here to go to O’Connor Insurance’s You Tube Channel.
