Why You Need to Add Uninsured and Underinsured Insurance Coverage to your Auto Policy, like now.

Posted by Tab Lawhorn | Oct 20, 2021 | 0 Comments

Why you need to add Uninsured and Underinsured Insurance Coverage to your Auto Policy.
People don't like buying insurance and I often wonder if anyone would purchase it if they weren't forced 
to by law. (Cue the boos from all insurance agents) Even when the law requires insurance, such as 
required by law for auto liability insurance, some people risk it and go without any coverage anyway. 
Others purchase a liability policy that has the bare minimum coverage that the law will allow. In Texas, 
the lowest liability coverage a consumer can carry is $30,000 for bodily injury ($25,000 for property 
damage). There are many reasons why buying the cheapest liability coverage you can is just as risky as 
buying none at all but that is for another day. (Cue the applause from all insurance agents)
Today I want to give you a tip about a little secret the insurance companies do not want you to know 
about. It's an “add on” policy to your liability coverage called Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist 
Liability coverage, otherwise called “UM” or “UIM”. These are add-on policies that protect you if you are 
involved in an automobile crash and 1) it wasn't your fault AND 2) the person that crashed into you, 
probably from texting instead of paying attention, doesn't have any insurance or has the bare minimum 
limits that won't cover your medical damages.
Yes, that's right. You can take control over whether or not you can be compensated for your injuries even 
if the person that hit you has no insurance at all. Now these are add on policies, so you have to purchase 
them in addition to your underlying liability policy. Why don't insurance companies just add these policies 
on automatically or put them in a package? Good question. And the answer is going to shock you so bad 
that you will be in a trance for a few seconds. Its' because these policies are relatively cheap. How cheap? 
I've seen some UM and UIM policies with $500,000.00 limits cost as few as $20 a month. $20 a month. 
$20 a month. Snap out of the trance. There's more.
The bottom line is that these policies are not great money makers for insurance companies. And it is true 
that you may have to raise your liability limits to qualify for the higher limit policies. But hey, you can't 
play the high limit slots with quarters am I right? Well, that's exactly what you may be trying to do if you 
get hit by someone who decided that they would rather drive a Mercedes but with minimum limits and 
you get seriously injured to the point you can't work anymore. Because you're dead. And for less than 
the cost of a Wendy's Frosty a day, you could have hooked your family up with a half-a million dollars. 


You probably need to call your agent today. Ask them about Underinsured/Uninsured Motorist Coverage.

About the Author

Tab Lawhorn

Attorney, Tyler Office Tab E. Lawhorn is a principal partner at Lawhorn & Malouf, PLLC in Tyler, Texas. Mr. Lawhorn represents clients in Tyler and throughout Smith County who are victims of a personal injury caused by negligence. He regularly handles matters involving car wrecks, trucking accidents, wrongful death and premises liability.

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