Insuring Yourself for What You Think You Are Worth

Why should you insure yourself for more than the state required minimum amount of coverage? In Canada, the minimum required auto insurance coverage is $200,000 dollars. By way of comparison, how many people in the United States have $200,000 in auto insurance coverage? Very, very few! In Ohio, the minimum amount of auto insurance coverage is $25,000. Ironically, what Ohioans pay for auto insurance coverage and what Canadians pay for coverage is about the same.

At Willis, Willis & Rizzi we see clients every day who have been in an auto accident and who required medical attention. An ambulance trip to the emergency room, an overnight stay at the hospital, doctors and specialists’ exams, x-ray, radiology or other testing, any medication they require, and the medical bills will far exceed $25,000! So, if the person who is at fault in the accident only has $25,000 in auto insurance coverage, you’ve spent that money on the first day.

You may also be thinking that your health insurance will be covering your medical expenses. Yes, your health insurance will cover those medical expenses, however, your health insurance company is going to want that money back! Moreover, your health insurance company often has the right to step in front of you in line and take that $25,000. So, when you reach out to the at fault party’s insurance company, you will likely hear “We’re out of money! Sorry.”

It doesn’t seem fair does it? You are paying for your auto insurance coverage and paying for your health insurance coverage so that one of your insurance companies can pay the other insurance company, and you are the one paying for both of them, but you are left out in the wind.

It would appear that your insurance companies are not protecting you, which is why you have to protect yourself. And the only way to do that is to make sure you have enough insurance of your own to cover you for what you think you are worth!

If you are not insuring yourself for what you think you are worth, you can’t rely on the other person in an accident to have enough insurance coverage to cover you.

Uninsured and Underinsured Insurance Coverage

In order to insure yourself for what you think you are worth you need to have in your insurance coverage what is known as uninsured and underinsured coverage.

Uninsured insurance covers you in case the person who hits you has no insurance. The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles estimates that 1 out of every 5 drivers on the road has no insurance. If a person has no insurance, there is really nothing you can get from them in the way of compensation. Yes, you can get a judgement against them for any amount of money, but unless they have the wherewithal to write a check for the judgement, you are never going to see that money. 

Underinsured insurance means you have coverage for whatever amount the person who hit you has, up to the amount of what you have. So, if they have state minimum coverage of $25,000 and you have $500,000 of coverage, then there is another $475,000 in coverage available to you under your underinsured coverage.

These are the important coverages in your auto insurance policy because they are the only coverages designed to cover YOU. You are buying coverage to protect you, your family, people in your car, from things that happen from anyone else on the road. 

It really is not that much more expensive to increase your uninsured and underinsured coverages because the vast majority of collisions are minor and there is not a lot of damage or medical bills.

However, when accidents go bad they tend to go really bad, and people can have horrendous injuries and all of a sudden, their lives are upside down because they are unable to work, they have no income, they have a bunch of medical bills, and they are unable to do the things they are used to doing. 

This is why it is always important to insure yourself for what you think you are worth, because you can’t rely on someone else.

Don’t go it alone, contact Willis, Willis and Rizzi today!

If you have been injured in an accident, don’t try and handle all of the nonsense that goes on with insurance companies on your own. You need to focus on your recovery and doing the things that will help you get back to being yourself. Let Willis, Willis & Rizzi navigate the legal issues related to your case while you focus on getting better. Call us today at 330-535-2000 and speak to a personal injury attorney today.