Uninsured/Underinsured Drivers Insurance covers bicycle collisions

[jkbrwn]

I just saw a video Phil Gaimon made where he states uninsured/underinsured motor coverage can be used to claim on in the event that you're involved in an incident with an uninsured/underinsured driver. I did some more reading of this Bike Legal article and decided to go for it.

As a non-native resident of the U.S., I am a little ignorant to things like this, so this advice was very useful.

I just updated my Progressive policy to cover me for:

$250,000 each person
$500,000 each accident (find it funny that even insurance companies still refer to these as 'accidents')

This cost an extra $212 per year, as I also had to update my Bodily Injury & Property Damage Liability cover to: $250,00/$500,000/$100,000 from the minimum of $15,000/$30,000/$5000. But the peace of mind is worth the extra cost. I'm not here trying to go bankrupt

Maybe everyone already knew this. But I didn't, so hopefully someone else finds it useful, too.

[AngryScientist]

It's not necessarily any fun, and not always easy to understand, but generally speaking, your insurance policy will cover exactly what it says in your policy.

each policy can and may be different, and you really need to read and understand what your coverage may be, including any endorsements or exclusions.

in the end, it doesnt matter what you thought, assumed or were told by an insurance sales person, all that matters is what's written in the policy.

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

It's not necessarily any fun, and not always easy to understand, but generally speaking, your insurance policy will cover exactly what it says in your policy.

each policy can and may be different, and you really need to read and understand what your coverage may be, including any endorsements or exclusions.

in the end, it doesnt matter what you thought, assumed or were told by an insurance sales person, all that matters is what's written in the policy.

This is entirely true. I am not a lawyer, but am surrounded by them. Oh, and my BFF is an insurance exec, and she would agree.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

I just saw a video Phil Gaimon made where he states uninsured/underinsured motor coverage can be used to claim on in the event that you're involved in an incident with an uninsured/underinsured driver. I did some more reading of this Bike Legal article and decided to go for it.

As a non-native resident of the U.S., I am a little ignorant to things like this, so this advice was very useful.

I just updated my Progressive policy to cover me for:

$250,000 each person
$500,000 each accident (find it funny that even insurance companies still refer to these as 'accidents')

This cost an extra $212 per year, as I also had to update my Bodily Injury & Property Damage Liability cover to: $250,00/$500,000/$100,000 from the minimum of $15,000/$30,000/$5000. But the peace of mind is worth the extra cost. I'm not here trying to go bankrupt

Maybe everyone already knew this. But I didn't, so hopefully someone else finds it useful, too.

Yes. My Supplement Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (SUM) coverage paid out to the limit, which wasn’t insubstantial, when I got hit by an elderly driver with the bare legal minimum in insurance coverage. If not for my SUM coverage, I would have had some real financial issues despite having really good medical coverage and the driver’s insurance. I’ve since increased my liability and SUM coverage, which must be increased in tandem. The increase in premium is relatively small.

[EB]

This. Every cyclist who rides on the road should have this coverage.

One important caveat to note about this coverage is that if you have a serious injury that's caused by a motorist, and you need more than what the motorist's coverage can pay, and you have UMI coverage, you may very well be put in a position where you need to sue your own insurance company.

If that happens, you will find out what it's like to be on the business end of their legal teams, which can be a very different experience than being their customer. For example, Geico has excellent customer service. However, their legal department is notoriously aggressive and will fight cyclist claims as hard as possible. A law firm that specializes in cyclists, like Bay Area Bicycle Law, can be a helpful guide to the common insurance companies here.

Nevertheless, I strongly recommend getting the coverage. The minimum required personal injury coverage to drive in California is $15000, which may barely cover your ambulance ride depending on the circumstances. The minimum required property damage coverage is only $5000, which might not even cover a few of the wheelsets seen on this forum, let alone whole builds.

[Mark McM]

Also keep in mind that in some states Uninsured Motorist Insurance and Under Insured Motorist Insurance are separate insurances. If an uninsured motorist, or an unknown motorist (Hit and Run) causes you damage, then your Uninsured Motorist Insurance will cover it (up to the coverage limits you have purchased).

But Uninsured Motorist Insurance will not pay anything if you are caused damage by a motorist with insurance (even if their insurance is too small to cover your damages). For that case, you can buy Under Insured Motorist Insurance. This will pay for your damages that are above the other motorists insurance coverage, up to the coverage limit you pay for.

So, if had Uninsured Motorist Insurance and no Under Insured Motorist Insurance, and you are by a hit by a motorist with a small amount of insurance, you would not be covered by your own Uninsured Motorist Insurance. And if you had Under Insured Motorist Insurance and no Uninsured Motorist Insurance, and you were hit by a motorist with no insurance, you wouldn't be covered by your own Under Insured Motorist Insurance.

Simple, huh?

[tuxbailey]

From personal experience, the underinsured/uninsured part of auto insurance paid off big time when I got it. My own insurance ended up paying as much as the driver's because her policy was just the state's minimum requirement. And my rate didn't go up after the ordeal either. Like Eli said, my insurance company ended up being the defendant for the driver as they are on the hook for the extra pay out. Good thing I didn't have to deal with it and my lawyer did a wonderful job.

Also, please max out your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) part of the auto insurance as well. While my lawyer was dealing with the driver's insurance, PIP paid for my ambulance ride and ER visit (I have HSA medical and had high deductible.) It is actually cheap premium because the max is low. I had $2,500 and after the accident I got the max which is $5K. And it was only a few bucks extra.

Also, get a lawyer when you find that you need to use the insurance. I was very ignorant of these and it was lawyer who handled the PIP request, etc for me.

[crappygator]

A lot of good information on this subject. I was curious as well