Law Office of Ernesto J. de la Fé, P.A.
Uninsured Motorist Insurance
is too Important to Waive: Get It!
February, 1995
I can’t begin to recall how many times we’ve had to turn down a good auto accident case because there was no insurance to cover the injuries. In most cases the people have been badly injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, and now they will not be able to get compensation for their injuries because the one who was at fault in the accident didn’t have insurance. The wrongdoers should have bought the insurance, but they didn’t and it's plain to see they don’t have a penny to their name. This has now become your problem.
It’s a bad situation, especially because the injured person could have prevented falling into this trap by buying Uninsured Motorist insurance UM. Now it’s too late and the only thing left to do is to buy UM coverage for next time, so this doesn’t happen again.
UM coverage puts your insurance company in the shoes of the person that hit you. Buying it means that you won’t be made to suffer the consequences of someone else’s irresponsibility of failing to buy insurance to cover injuries they might cause on the road.
So what’s the problem? Well, these days in order to get Uninsured Motorist coverage in Miami you’ve got to really want it. For one thing, it’s expensive. The additional expense, however, should not keep you from buying it. The cost of UM coverage should form a part of your insurance budget. The other problem is that the law allows you to waive your right to get the coverage, and too often people waive it without really knowing what they are giving up.
A lot of times insurance agents are no help either. They are only too willing to tell you that you don’t need it. This part of the insurance purchase conversation usually goes something like this:
Agent: Do you have health insurance?
You: Yes.
Agent: Well, then you don’t need UM.
You: OK!
The reason for this is that the insurance agent works in a very competitive environment. He or she wants to give you the lowest possible bottom line so that you don’t get up, leave, and buy the insurance from the agent down the street. Sometimes they really believe they’re doing you a favor by not selling you the coverage, but they’re not.
You see, when you have health insurance, you’ve assured yourself that the hospitals and doctors get paid for the treatment you receive after an accident. No-fault, or so-called PIP auto insurance coverage, does the same thing for them, in addition to replacing a small part of your income. All this is fine and dandy, but who’s going to pay you for a disability that may affect you for the rest of your life; a disability that may have you in pain, cause you suffering, and keep you from earning your full income potential? If you don’t have UM coverage, and the other party doesn’t have liability insurance, nobody is going to compensate you, that’s who!
In my opinion, the best insurance policy is the one that protects you and your family. UM coverage does just that. If you are involved in an auto accident you will be able to recover compensation for your injuries, whether or not the party that hit you has insurance. UM also provides UNDER-insured coverage, in case the other driver’s coverage is less than yours.
Usually you buy the same amount of UM coverage as liability coverage. You can buy UM coverage that either stacks, or doesn’t. Stacking multiplies the amount that you buy of UM coverage by the number of cars you have insured under the policy.
Any way you buy it, UM coverage is well worth the additional premium you pay for your insurance. I recommend you get it as soon as possible, and don’t let the insurance agent talk you out of it.
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