Don’t Drive Without Your UM Coverage

Studies show that up to 1 in 4 drivers on the road in Texas do not have liability insurance.  Georgetown, Round Rock, and Cedar Park have numbers of uninsured drivers that are consistent with the state average, while areas in South Texas and the Panhandle have higher numbers of uninsured drivers on the road.Chances are high that when you are in an accident with a negligent driver, he or she will not have liability coverage to pay for your injuries and losses.  Chances are also good that the uninsured driver will be judgment proof, with little to no assets available to help cover your losses.Here’s what can happen:  Julie and her sister were involved in a serious accident on I-35 in Georgetown.  The negligent driver was uninsured and had practically nothing in assets, and neither Julie nor her sister had Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage on their own auto policies.Julie’s hospital bill alone was over $20,000.00, and there was no insurance to cover Julie’s debt.  The hospital has since turned the bill over to collections on Julie’s credit.If Julie and her sister had UM coverage on their policies, then their own insurance companies would have stepped in to provide Julie and her sister the coverage that the negligent driver lacked.Spending a little more per month for Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage can protect you and your family from serious financial losses caused by one of the millions of uninsured drivers in Texas.Julie and her sister could have paid a little more each month and avoided tens of thousands in medical debts caused by someone else’s negligence.The real question is not IF an accident will ever occur with an uninsured driver—the real question is When an accident with an uninsured driver happens, are you and your family covered?Some of my most heartbreaking client visits involve situations where there are serious or debilitating injuries and no insurance coverage to cover the bills, copays, deductibles and lost wages for the injured parties.  The long term financial impacts on these clients and their families are often tremendous, and they all voice regret over not providing adequate coverage to protect themselves from such a loss.