UM/UIM… Make sure you have enough.

Every auto insurance policy in the state of Arizona must carry 2 things according to state law; Bodily Injury and Property damage. Bodily Injury coverage is the liability portion of your policy that covers, not you, but a person that you injured in an at-fault collision. It takes care of their medical bills, loss of wages, etc. The property damage portion of the policy will go towards taking care of the physical damage on their vehicle, or even by them a new vehicle if needs be. Something disturbing that I have seen countless agents do in order to offer a better ‘price’ on an insurance policy is either not offering UM/UIM coverage at all or offering very little coverage period. UM/UIM coverage stands for “uninsured motorist” (UM) and “under insured motorist” (UIM) coverage. This is the part of the liability that covers YOU and YOUR FAMILY (or other passengers in your vehicle). Let’s say that you are injured in an auto accident because another drive hit you at a red light. You or someone in your vehicle needs to seek medical treatment but you find out that they don’t even have insurance to begin with. If this is the case, the UM portion of your policy will kick in and take care of your needs up to the designated liability limits. Let’s say that the same person who hit you does indeed have insurance, but they have the state minimum liability coverage and it isn’t enough to cover the medical bills or loss of wages from your job. This is when the UIM portion of your policy comes into play and takes care of the rest of your bills or other qualifying needs up to the selected liability limits.

I can’t even begin to explain how important this coverage is to me, especially since we live in a state with so many uninsured drivers. Make sure that your insurance agent has not only provided you with UM/UIM coverage but that the liability limits are enough to take care of your needs. Cost wise, this is actually the cheapest part of your policy. I always tell my clients that if you are paying for the Bodily Injury limits to insure other people, it only makes sense to have the same coverage for You and Your family.