What is stacked uninsured motorist coverage? Stacked uninsured motorist coverage for your vehicle in an amount equal to your bodily injury coverage is essential to protect yourself financially. This type of car insurance ensures that you have additional resources to cover your medical bills and damages in case of a car accident involving an uninsured or underinsured driver.
Insurance agents may sometimes tell you that you do not need this coverage, even though it is relatively inexpensive. If they do, ask whether they are working for you or the insurance company. Adding underinsured motorist coverage to your car insurance policy can help you in situations where the at-fault party’s coverage limits are insufficient to pay for your injuries and expenses.
Uninsured motorist coverage applies if someone causes a car accident and injures you but has no insurance or very little insurance. Stacked coverage provides an additional layer of protection by combining the limits of multiple policies, offering greater financial security in the aftermath of a car accident.
The easiest way to explain it is to list the types of coverage in Florida:
- Bodily Injury liability coverage – it pays money if you cause a crash and hurt someone else. Unbelievably, this is not required of most vehicle owners in Florida.
- Property damage coverage – it pays money if you cause a crash and damage property.
- Personal injury protection – it pays $10,000.00 for your medical bills and your wage loss regardless of who causes the crash. It is like a small health insurance policy. If you did not cause the crash, your rates will not increase unless you have had three crashes in a five year period.
SO WHAT DOES UNINSURED MOTORIST COVER?
It covers your medical bills, wage loss, and money for your suffering after the $10,000.00 personal injury protection is exhausted and after the at-fault driver has confirmed there is no car insurance or has offered very little car insurance to pay your bills.
Why is uninsured motorist coverage important?
Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is essential to protect yourself financially in case of a car accident involving an uninsured or underinsured driver. In Florida, many drivers do not carry bodily injury liability insurance, and car insurance policies often have low coverage limits. Florida law does not require most people to have bodily injury liability insurance, leaving many drivers with only personal injury protection (PIP) of $10,000. Unfortunately, a single trip to the emergency room can cost $15,000 or more, leaving you with insufficient car insurance coverage to cover your medical expenses.
This gap in coverage is why many people opt for stacked car insurance or stacked coverage, which combines the limits of multiple car insurance policies to increase your financial protection. Stacked insurance can help cover costs like hospital bills, surgery expenses, and lost wages if you miss work after an accident. In contrast, unstacked car insurance provides more limited coverage, leaving you vulnerable if the at-fault driver lacks sufficient insurance.
For instance, if you suffer an injury requiring $40,000 in surgery bills after an accident caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver, your car insurance policy might not provide adequate compensation without stacked coverage. Health insurance often delays payment for bills caused by vehicle crashes, which further highlights the importance of having the right car insurance policies in place to protect yourself and your family.
UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE WOULD HELP, AND IT IS IMPORTANT.
Insurance agents may tell you that you do not need uninsured motorist coverage, or that you do not need much of it. Why would you protect other people more than you protect yourself? Why would you have more bodily injury liability coverage than uninsured motorist coverage? The insurance company may want you to have less uninsured motorist coverage so the insurance companies can save their money. It is more likely that a careful driver will be a victim of a bad driver. Hence, the insurance companies may be happy to sell you bodily injury liability coverage, which you may never use, because you do not cause a crash. But, they may be hesitant to sell uninsured motorist coverage because you are more likely to be a victim and need reimbursement. Discussions with a car accident lawyer may help to fully understand what insurance you should be carrying, based on their experience. More insurance is usually not expensive.
In summary, insurance companies may want you to buy uninsured motorist coverage but they do not want you to buy much because the premium for good coverage is not much more and the insurance company is more likely to have to actually pay a claim.
In our opinion, your uninsured motorist coverage should be “stacking” and in an amount equal to your bodily injury liability coverage. Stacking coverage increases in amount for each vehicle you insure. This option is usually not much more in premium charges and can dramatically increase your coverage. Stacking also protects your relatives that live with you and you if you are on a motorcycle.