What is uninsured motorist coverage?
Uninsured motorist coverage pays you if an uninsured motorist hits your car and you are injured. Similarly, underinsured motorists coverage protects you if the driver who crashes into your car has some — but not enough — insurance. In some states, uninsured coverage boosts the total premium substantially.
Uninsured motorist coverage (UM) provides a valuable source of legal recovery after an automobile accident when someone is injured by another driver who is uninsured. With uninsured motorist coverage, an injured person turns to his or her own auto insurance company to pay what would have been recovered from the uninsured driver if he or she had carried auto insurance. For example, if an uninsured driver causes a car accident that causes personal injury to a driver with UM protection, then that auto insurance company will compensate their own insured up to contractual amount of coverage that was purchased – just as if they were the auto insurance company for the at-fault driver who caused the car accident. The auto insurance company of the insured driver “steps into the shoes” of the uninsured driver and pays all personal injury damages that the uninsured driver is responsible for. To be compensated under a UM policy, an injured driver must show that the other driver was uninsured and w
