Many clients come to me after an accident and tell me they have “full coverage.” Then I look at the insurance declarations page and sadly inform my client that they don’t have the insurance they think they have because they rejected uninsured motorist coverage.  In fact, you may not have "full coverage" because you have not purchased uninsured motorist insurance.

Here's how it works.  You buy auto insurance and tell your agent you want $100,000 worth of coverage.  The agent quotes you a price.  You say fine and sign documents.  One of the documents is "Rejection of Uninsured Motorist Insurance."  You ask your agent, "What is this?"  and he says, "oh, the law doesn't require you to have this," and you say ok.  The agent is technically right, the law doesn't require you to buy this.  But I think this is a  BIG MISTAKE.

Then you get into an accident, you're minding your own business at a red light and car barrels right into you.  You're quite injured.  You contact me and I investigate the claim and in several days I sadly inform you that the other driver only had $10,000 worth of liability coverage.  I then tell you that you signed a rejection of uninsured motorist insurance.  So your case is likely worth much more than $10,000 but the attorney can only recover $10,000 for you.

If you had uninsured motorist insurance, I could recover $110,000 for you, and what's more, if you have more than one car in your household, you can elect "to stack" you uninsured motorist coverage.  So if you had 2 cars with $100,000 with uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, I could obtain $210,000 for you if your injury warranted it.

Please don't delude yourself that I can recover settlement moneys directly from the other driver's pocket.  If you are going to owe someone money, it's best to move to Florida.  The law protects your wages, your primary household, your annuities and lastly, the person who owes you money can wipe it with a bankruptcy filing.  So please purchase yourself peace of mind protection and buy UNINSURED/UNDERINSURED motorist coverage from your insurance company.  

Of course, if you have any questions about whether your automobile insurance is right for you, contact me and I'll look over your policy (for free) and advise you as to what you are buying and what I think you need.  Then you can call up your insurance agent and get the right quote for your policy.