Uninsured Motorists: Is It Worth It?

According to the Insurance Research Council, approximately 15% - 17% all drivers in the United States are uninsured. Despite all the fines and penalties they could suffer, millions of drivers either cannot afford coverage or just do not care about the potential consequences. This leaves the insured drivers in a precarious position. Do they buy uninsured motorists coverage on the off chance that one of these irresponsible drivers will collide with them or do they simply pray it never happens? The entire situation along with the consequences of a wrong decision can lead to overwhelming financial burden for the insured driver, especially for those who can barely afford the state required insurance minimums.

So, what can be done to decrease the number of uninsured motorists on the road? The truth is, barring imprisonment, there is very little that state agencies can do to enforce the minimum insurance requirements until an accident occurs. Even then, fines and penalties may not be enough to keep the determined uninsured motorist off the road. U.S. states are trying, though, to do what they can to help solve the problem.

U.S. State Responses to the Uninsured Motorist Problem

Most U.S. states have tried to address the problem of uninsured motorists by requiring that each driver obtain a specified minimum amount of auto insurance coverage in case he or she is the cause of an accident that results in injury and/or damages to another. Although every state differs in its minimum requirements, all require three elements to the coverage: a guaranteed minimum amount that will be paid per person, per accident; a guaranteed minimum amount that will be paid out per accident, total; and, a guaranteed minimum amount that will be paid out for property damage, per accident.

For example, if you are a driver in Arizona, you must carry insurance that will pay a guaranteed minimum of $15,000 per person injured, with a guaranteed minimum of $30,000 total coverage for the accident. So, if two people were injured in an accident that you caused, and each of those people sustained injuries that totaled $25,000, the minimum insurance would not cover their total damages. Each would only receive $15,000. In Arizona, the required minimum for property damage is $10,000 (on an insurance policy, the coverage limits would be shorthanded as 15/30/10).

In addition to requiring minimum amounts of auto insurance, most states have some sort of fine or penalty system for those who do not adhere to the law. Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island will confiscate a first-time offender’s license plate. Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and other states will suspend or revoke an offender’s license and/or registration. Just about every state in the union imposes some sort of fine – from $50 to over $5000.

Despite the various punishments doled out by the states, uninsured motorists continue to roam the highways of America. State penalties and minimum requirements help, but no state has the resources necessary to track down every uninsured motorist on the road today.

What Drivers Can Do to Protect Against the Uninsured Motorist

The only real weapon a law-abiding driver has against the uninsured motorist comes in the form of additional insurance– the uninsured motorist coverage. This coverage will protect the driver who is not at fault in an accident by paying for injury and damages that would have otherwise been covered by the uninsured driver. In more than half of the U.S. states, this coverage is optional. The following states, however, mandate uninsured motorist coverage: Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. A similar coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, is also required in some of these states. This coverage protects the policyholder (if not the cause of an accident) by supplementing the inadequate insurance of a driver who is at fault in an accident.

While trying to determine whether or not uninsured motorist coverage is really worth the cost, consider what a devastating automobile accident could mean for you and your family. Are you financially able to pay for the outcome of a devastating automobile accident? Would any of your current insurance policies help cover resulting medical costs, lost wages, etc.? If the answer to these questions is “no”, then perhaps uninsured motorist coverage would be worth the cost.