Do you have enough uninsured / underinsured motorist coverage?

I was in an accident back in August of 2013. I was rear ended on the freeway, he was doing 90 or so in his car, me I was doing 55-60 on my motorcycle. From the eye witnesses, I should be either dead or paralyzed. My injuries were a broken left leg, broken right talus bone (ankle) which required surgery and a dozen screws and two plates, and a few broken ribs. I’m lucky that the talus bone did not die. My surgeon informed me at the beginning, that it only has three blood vessels feeding it and it could die. Well, I just had my 6 month follow up appointment and it’s healing nicely. I was going to post this earlier, but did not want to jinx my recovery. I still have a few months to go due to pain, but my doctor gave me a preliminary return to work date of the first week in May, for a total of 9 months out of work. I’m lucky that I have a family that has the time to take care of me, back when I could not get around by myself at all.

So, do you have enough under insured / uninsured coverage? The person who hit me had a minimum liability policy and no assets to speak of. My medical bills so far are over $150,000, which is covered by my health insurance provided by my employer. I am on leave of absence from work and am collecting disability. The disability is about half of my regular wages and I have to pay for my families health insurance out of my pocket. I hope to recover all of my lost income and some pain and suffering through my insurance company. I’ve hired a personal injury attorney, just because, I don’t know squat about the law and I’m confident he’ll get me what is fair. So just for lost income and medical bills, that is over $200K to date. If I were paralyzed, I’d be hurtin for certain in the financial dept and my wife and kids would be going through hell. Bottom line, when all is said and done, the total of dollars spent for medical bills, lost income, etc will be close to the $300K area. Just a little food for thought.

Wow. Glad you survived and are healing up.

How much does the minimum liability insurance cover per incident?
What's the minimum liability figure based on? Average amount for injury claims? Some arbitrary number?
It's a shame that if we have mandatory insurance, it can't cover $300,000 worth of medical care. That's not really very much when you consider all that could happen.

What kind of injuries did the at-fault driver suffer?

I'm maxed out on mine because of stories like this. Glad your on the road to recovery.

Carlo said:

Wow. Glad you survived and are healing up.

How much does the minimum liability insurance cover per incident?
What's the minimum liability figure based on? Average amount for injury claims? Some arbitrary number?
It's a shame that if we have mandatory insurance, it can't cover $300,000 worth of medical care. That's not really very much when you consider all that could happen.

What kind of injuries did the at-fault driver suffer?

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California requires a 15K per person, 30K per accident coverage. The driver or his passenger sustained no injuries.

I am curious about this. I opted out of UIC just because I have health insurance, to what extent should I be worried about health care costs if I am hit by an uninsured motorist? I believe my maximum annual deductible for health insurance is around 3k, so my thinking was that this pays for itself after a couple years of carrying UIC.

NoneMoreBlack said:

I am curious about this. I opted out of UIC just because I have health insurance, to what extent should I be worried about health care costs if I am hit by an uninsured motorist? I believe my maximum annual deductible for health insurance is around 3k, so my thinking was that this pays for itself after a couple years of carrying UIC.

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What about your lost wages, vacation, vacation and sick bank accual, co-pay for visits, co-pay for surgeries etc. My co-pay for rehab is 40 per visit and it's twice a week, or $320 per month. I will be out of work for 9 months. Lost wages by itself will be over 70K. Not to mention the other things that I brought up earlier. Also for the first three months, I could not drive and had to use a wheel chair. My wife has a flexible job, so she could modify her schedule to free up time to drive me to where I needed to go. If not, I would have to use a taxi.

I have a wife and two kids to think about, $161 in annual premiums for 300/500K uninsured/underinsured coverage is a little bit of peace of mind for me. I'm thankful I have it.

Learned a lesson to UP your own coverage... a buddy got hit last year. the guy has NY state minimum 25/50/10. medical bills about 100k and the other party's insurance paid out 25k max as per policy. other party had no assets, works paycheck to paycheck and rents. up your own coverage so you are fully covered

i've been procrastinating this the cost to up the UI/UIM per month wasnt leaps and bounds... i think going from 50/100 to 100/300 was like a jump of 8 dollars/month.

What do you mean the guy has no assets? He has organs doesn't he?

crick said:

i've been procrastinating this the cost to up the UI/UIM per month wasnt leaps and bounds... i think going from 50/100 to 100/300 was like a jump of 8 dollars/month.

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I've always had it at 300/500. I don't know what the price of a lower tier would be. Roughly $13 bucks a month for it is worth it, because we have no control over how some of these idiots drive.

the point here is it doesnt matter what you have for health insurance. There are a TON of little costs that add up as Slopoke has mentioned. Probably the largest being lost time at work. Medical adds up fast and depending on your medical coverage it might not cover it all.

I believe mine is close to or over 500k. Being young with an ok job but not a huge rainy day fund, I cant afford to not have it. If Im out of work for a few months im dead in the water financially.

It really doesn't add much more to your premium. buy one case of lagunitas instead of two and theres your cash...

Good points Slopoke. As someone that is in the industry of pain and suffering, I far too often see a rider with serious injuries but not enough insurance to cover the loss. The thought of losing a leg or an arm by someone who is judgment proof, i.e., they have no assets to mention, for $15K is horrible.

At my free seminars I always get on my soapbox about having as high of UIM policy as possible.

Good luck with the recovery.

Scotty

This thread prompted me to contact my broker today and get quotes for some big boy insurance - there's just too much risk exposure as a rider...can't keep fooling myself with minimal insurance.

Thanks for the wake up call Slopoke!

Aeroslash said:

This thread prompted me to contact my broker today and get quotes for some big boy insurance - there's just too much risk exposure as a rider...can't keep fooling myself with minimal insurance.

Thanks for the wake up call Slopoke!

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I'm glad if this info helps someone avoid financial disaster in the future. Like I stated before, you can't control how others drive and those are the ones that screw up others lives!

Kinda reminds me of conversations regarding riding gear. A person who rides with minimal gear will state, " I'm not going to crash". I respond with "O.K, but do you know for certain that someone else is not going to cause you to crash"?

I carried 100k until I ended up doing hospital time from a (non-moto-related) stroke. The bills were astonishing!

As soon as I got out of the hospital I increased UM/UIM to 300k.

I also increased my liability to 300k, just in case. I don't want to be the dick that can't pay.

Do lost wages come out of the liability portion of the at-fault party's insurance or the medical?

Also, California does not allow stacking of insurance policies; is this relevant to your personal medical coverage vis a vis a UIC policy?

I am just trying to figure this out, I am single, no kids, and while the peace of mind is a good idea, I would prefer not to carry superfluous coverage when I supposedly have an excellent health plan. I will look into my copays and coverage limits, you definitely have me worried that I have been going about my business in the assumption that if something happens, health insurance will make it better.

wow you just put into perspective the huge risk i've been taking... there's a saying that when your neighbors bear sets on fire, put yours in water. I'm going to call my insurance Co today. I too am of the minimum insurance groups. I do have a badass health insurance through work though. Will ask questions prob the extra cost is a no brainer.. just like the $30 extra i pay a year for air-lift coverage.

BUT before i do that, i want to offer my help. I don't know what sort of help you need, but if it can alleviate your burden on you and your family with a chore here and there i'd be more than glad to. Just shoot me a pm and ask without shame. I know from personal experience that a little help goes a big way. Your story sucks, its a nightmare that nobody deserves to be put through. Message heard loud and clear.. specially when i have a wife with kid on the way.

Granted, everyone's insurance cost is going to be different but I recently increased my coverage from 300/500 BI & UMBI to 1M/1M and 500/500 respectively and the marginal annual cost to me was $40. That's *one* meal out at a very ordinary restaurant.

In most cases insurance carriers will not allow you to purchase a UI/UM policy for more liability than you carry.

It is a prudent purchase.

I'd suggest Medpay/Medical as well as high a value as you are allowed to purchase. This varies carrier to carrier.

NoneMoreBlack said:

Do lost wages come out of the liability portion of the at-fault party's insurance or the medical?

Also, California does not allow stacking of insurance policies; is this relevant to your personal medical coverage vis a vis a UIC policy?

I am just trying to figure this out, I am single, no kids, and while the peace of mind is a good idea, I would prefer not to carry superfluous coverage when I supposedly have an excellent health plan. I will look into my copays and coverage limits, you definitely have me worried that I have been going about my business in the assumption that if something happens, health insurance will make it better.

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Well that all depends on how much the person has for coverage. The insurance payment from the person who hit me was $15,000 total. That's how much liability coverage he had and he has no assets, so there is nothing to gain by going to court. So the rest is going to come from my insurance.