When you receive your Insurance policies do you read them?  If you do, do you understand what you are reading? Give me a few minutes of your time to help you understand what your policy says and why it’s important!

We drive our cars every day!  We drive to work, to school, on vacations, and running errands.  How many times have you worried about an uninsured driver hitting you?  What if they have insurance, but not enough?  Now how many times have you asked yourself if YOU have enough insurance?  I’m guessing not quite as often.  In the event of an accident when you are at fault, do you currently have enough coverage?  How often have you looked at your auto policy and read it?  Do you understand what your coverages are and why you have that amount?  Hopefully after reading this, you will have a better understanding of your Auto Insurance Policy.

Liability limits are typically shown in split limit format or as a combined single limit.  This is what your insurance company will pay in the event that you are in an accident and you are found at fault! Let’s say you have 100/300/100.  This means your insurance company will pay up to $100,000 per person for bodily injury and $300,000 for bodily injury per accident.  The last number is $100,000 in property damage.   Property damage pays to repair or replace the others’ vehicle and/or property that was damaged in an accident.  Combined Single Limit is one shared limit for bodily injury per person, per accident and property damage. 

Having the right amount of liability is VERY important.  For example, if you cause an accident and the vehicle you hit had 4 people in it with bodily injury, is your 100/300/100 going to be enough?  The average cost of an ambulance ride in Ohio is between $400 and $1,200.  The ER visit can cost anywhere from $150 to $3,000.  Both of these depends on the severity of injuries and can exceed these amounts depending on the severity of the injuries.  Lifesaving efforts would be much higher! Now consider the continued care, chiropractor, physical therapy, hospital stay, surgery or even worse death! It CAN happen!

Medical payments or “Med Pay” covers you and your passengers’ injuries in an accident regardless of who is at fault! 

No Fault states require their insured drivers to carry Personal Injury Protection Insurance or PIP. This will cover you and your passengers’ injuries along with lost wages.  Click HERE  for a list of No Fault States.

Uninsured and underinsured coverage or “UM/UIM” will provide coverage for you and your passengers’ in the event that the other driver does not have any (or enough) liability insurance. Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists will show on your policy similar to your liability coverage.

Deductibles

You have 2 deductibles, Comprehensive and Collision. The amount of these deductibles are what you agree to pay out of pocket for a loss.

Collision helps pay to repair or replace your vehicle if it is damaged in an accident with another vehicle or object.

Comprehensive helps pay for damages caused by something other than collision.  Some items that fall into comprehensive coverage are fire, theft, vandalism, natural disasters, or windshield repair or replacement.

Your auto policy may also have coverages like: Roadside Assistance, Towing Reimbursement, Rental Reimbursement, $0 Glass option, and Loan Lease Gap.  We’ll get into these more in a future blog.

What happens if you don’t carry enough insurance?  You could face a lifetime of garnished wages or you could deplete your personal assets!  Be sure to talk to your agent about these coverages and your liability limits to see if you need to increase your coverages!

Sources:

https://www.iii.org/

https://health.costhelper.com/ambulance.html

https://www.thebalance.com/average-cost-of-an-er-visit-4176166

https://www.safeco.com/blog/insurance-terms