Uninsured motorist coverage

Hoping our in-house expert (Not-a-Charger) can answer this one;

I'm thinking of dropping my "Uninsured Motorist" coverage on my two older cars that aren't super valuable. I pay $600 a year just for this coverage, each car. I believe I'd be covered u to $10k and then have to sue in Civil Court. But if the car isn't worth more than $10k, what's the point? Medical should be covered by my medical insurance, right? State of Florida.

Seems to me that if you have a high Collision deductible, UM might be worthwhile on a Daily.
But Collision suffices, I think.
In any case, I'll defer to NAC; I haven't worked for an insurer in many years.

It is a good question for an agent. A lot of people drive cheap cars, especially in the winter, so there might be an angle that gets played there. My daily driver is a 2000 Toyota 4Runner with 250,000 miles on it. I think the market value is around $5000 last time I checked. I have no interest in selling it since it runs like a top, but I know the insurance company isn't going to give me much for it if someone steals it or totals it. I pay $50 a month for insurance which isn't horrible, but it is probably too much given the value. I'm paying 1% market value every month just for insurance which seems high.

Just went through this, only reason to have uninsured is for "pain and suffing", when other driver doesn't have coverage.
GF got in a wreck 5 yrs ago, other driver had coverage, she received $300k settlement, much less in pocket after lawyer and medical fees.
Fast forward 2 years, she complains about cost of her insurance, I say drop the uninsured, she saves a bunch.
Then 2 yrs later, gets hit again, this time other driver has no insurance, she gets her $10k PIP minimum, attorney asks, "why don't you have uninsured coverage......."
Oops

Valid point...it's a risk. It's just so expensive, but then Florida also has an estimated 20% of driver's that are uninsured. It's not hard for me to believe either.

You'd first have to determine whether your insurer charges UM as a single coverage applicable to all of your vehicles (that's what mine does), or if they charge you UM per vehicle. If it's a single coverage, you can't drop it unless you drop it completely. UM/UIM relates to injuries only, has nothing to do with the car you're driving, or any damages, etc.

My $.02, I would not drop it in FL, for the reasons already noted. Too many uninsured drivers, and also a low minimum limit required by law ($10k per person/$20k per accident). And a LOT of drivers in FL who have insurance carry those minimum limits...remember UM is also UIM, as in Underinsured Motorist. If you get hurt by an uninsured/underinsured motorist, you're going to be screwed. Also, how much UM/UIM coverage are you carrying?

Unfortunately that is likely the case in more places than Florida which is why you should carry it. I also believe what UIM covers varies from state to state/ I sure our resident Ins. guy will chime in soon
EDIT: Looks like I got Treed LOL

Exactly, it's my understanding the the Uninsured and Under-insured have nothing to do with the vehicle they're for medical expenses.

Maybe someone in the auto insurance field will chime in.

SNK-EYZ is correct. The value of the vehicle should not even be a consideration when deciding if you want Uninsured or Underinsured motorist coverage. It has nothing to do with what you'll get for the vehicle if someone hits it. It's for medical coverage.

We can only hope.

Here in Colorado we have UM/UIM for both medical and vehicle coverage. They are separate options and I have both on my cars that don't have full coverage. My UM/UIM vehicle coverage is about 120.00 year per car.

UM/UIM is not the same as UMPD. UMPD covers your car. UM/UIM is for injuries.

Ya your right.

That would be the last thing I would drop.

. I'd vote to keep it.
Lets say your car is smashed by an uninsured motorist or someone with minimum limits. Lets say you are injured and have big hospital bills and a slow recovery and can't work. If the at-fault driver actually had insurance and had limits of $25K but your total damages (medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages) total $100K, then the at fault driver will pay the limits ($25K) and be done.
You don't get the remaining $75K of your damages.
If you have UM/UIM coverage, then it kicks in to pay the missing $75K (or up to your policy limits).
Ideally none of us ever need insurance so it seems like wasted money. But if you ever need it, this is the part of the policy that actually covers you.

Whole thing is a BS racket. Start towing and crushing the non insured cars daily when found on the road if not a slight oversight. However how many drivers actually let there coverage lapse and not know it.

Zero excuses why it was let to get this way.

Who determines what's a slight oversight?

Keep the insurance.

Since there is basically zero enforcement of laws, why would many of the worlds dirtbags have insurance? We had a parked car get hit by a paperboy. He slammed into another car and pushed that one into ours.

I called the paper and they gave me his card. Filed claim and was told it was a fake card. The paper said it want their problem, which is bs since they employed him without verified g his coverage. I was left to sue over like 500 in damages. They rightfully figure nobody will follow through with that sort of hassle.

So I turned to the cops. I went to the address on the fake card, it was correct and I took a picture of the red paint on his white car, matched the height of the hit. Police didn’t care, he was an illegal alien and it was a sanctuary city. They won’t bother.

Guy with other car didn’t want to get involved in any of the above, which I was told would help if they had a multiple complaint. His reason? He didn’t have insurance either.

Strangely, we have optional covers for underinsured motorists. It costs more, a lot more, than uninsured. I’ve never taken it for that reason. Iirc the uninsured has a low cap, but the under brings it up to your level and if you have a high limit policy it is a wide gulf up to what you have if they have a minimum.

Uninsured/Underinsured is the same coverage. It's called UM/UIM BI (BI = bodily injury). I've never seen a carrier that offered 2 separate coverages, one for UM and one for UIM.

On my way into work and my drive home I play a game called 'spot the oldest expired license plate tabs'. Oldest so far was 2021. Spotted last week. In MN you need to provide proof of insurance to renew your tabs. I'm guessing police do not pull people over for expired tabs anymore due to fear of riots.
Add to that the rediculous amount of stolen KIA and Hyndais driving around No way I would drop UI insurance.

Might depend where you live. If you live near a large metro area full of "cultural enhancers" then good idea to load up on the insurance. If you live in North Dakota then the odds are more in your favor.

https://www.progressive.com/answers/uninsured-motorist-insurance/

Here’s a primer. It’s not the same thing. Maybe somebody in the industry can chime in?

Not a charger is in the industry and I believe he is saying the coverage limits for UM and UIM are the same. Meaning if your policy limits for UM is $50,000 then your policy limits for UIM will also be $50,000.

Most auto insurance companies "bundle" Underinsured Motorist (UIM) and Uninsured motorist (UM) together when they sell you an auto insurance policy. Meaning they quote a single price that includes both UIM and UM coverage bundled together, instead of quoting separate prices for each.

UM coverage protects the policy holder when the at-fault driver has no insurance at all (and provides no coverage if the at-fault driver has insurance).
UIM coverage protects the policy holder when the at-fault driver has insurance, but your damages exceed the limits of the at-fault driver's insurance policy (and provides no coverage if the at-fault driver has no insurance).
Auto insurance policy rules vary from state to state so there is no "one size fits all" rule so your mileage may vary...

I am in the industry. UM and UIM serve the same purpose. In most states, they are lumped together as UM/UIM, which is how it is in my state. I did find out that there are some states (likely yours among them) that do split the coverages up. It looks like those states are Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Learned something new today.

I just looked at my Il. policy and they are separate. $100,000/$300,000. My truck for 6 months is UM $36.40,UIM $9.20,and also lists Medical $13.70. My Cuda and Corvette have yearly policy and each are UM $10.70,UIM $2.70,Medical $6.90.

They aren’t the same purpose. That’s why they are separate coverages. Some states require both. That list isn’t all of them.

They do serve the same purpose. UM and UIM replace the injury coverage that the at-fault party doesn't have at all (UM), or doesn't have enough of (UIM).

Lots of states require that you purchase UM. In the states where UM and UIM are not separated, that means you're paying for both whether you want to or not. In the states that do separate them but also require UM, it allows people to reduce their costs by choosing not to have UIM if they don't want it. Those are the states that I listed.

Looks like you need to add Illinois to your list.

Okay thank you very much! I need to see if it's per vehicle now. I'm curious.

I'll probably keep it. Thanks again.

I'll be sure to pass that along.

Edit: looked it up, and Illinois requires both UM and UIM coverage. Looks like you need to remove Illinois from your list, or at least specify that it requires both if you buy more than the minimum limits.

https://idoi.illinois.gov/consumers/consumerinsurance/auto-insurance-shopping-guide.html

Ok I just read the Il. law and if you buy more UM coverage than the minimum $25,000/$50,000 then UMI is required by law. Buy the minimum and it's not. Lol

You are correct.