Understanding Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Mar 6, 2020 Brown Moore
What happens when you figure yourself in a hit-and-run accident, or you get hit by a vehicle whose drive doesn’t have insurance? Is there a type of coverage that you can claim to help with any damages resulting in an accident like this?
On this episode of When Accidents Happen, hosts Paige Pahlke and Jim Puritz talk extensively about uninsured motorist coverage and its different limits, depending on the state you’re currently in. They also discuss what you should do as soon as the accident occurs and how you can add coverage to your existing policy, and to your family’s.
Key Moments From The Episode
- [00:52] – What is uninsured motorist coverage
- [01:08] – Minimum limits of the coverage
- [01:25] – Procedures to claiming the coverage
- [01:47] – How to add coverage for yourself and your family
- [03:13] – How to determine whether one has uninsured motorist coverage
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When Accidents Happen is a podcast by Brown Moore and Associates, a personal injury law firm based out of Charlotte, NC. This podcast is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and is not a substitute for consulting an attorney. You should always consult an experienced personal injury attorney about your unique situation before making legal decisions. Visit our website for more online resources at (http://brownmoorelaw.com/) , or better yet, call 704- 335-1500 for a free initial intake interview so Brown Moore and Associates can evaluate your case.
Read Full Transcript
| Intro: | [00:02] | Chances are you're here because of an accident involving yourself or someone you love and before the dust even settles, you're dealing with an insurance company that doesn't have your best interests at heart. You may be feeling overwhelmed. You may be feeling scared. Welcome to When Accidents Happen, a podcast brought to you by the attorneys of Brown, Moore, and Associates. With more than five decades of experience, our attorneys are here to guide you through these uncertain times and provide you with the information and answers you need today. |
| Jim Puritz: | [00:37] | Good morning. This is Jim Puritz. I'm here with Paige Pahlke, we are attorneys from Brown, Moore, and this is the podcast When Accidents Happen. How are you Paige? |
| Paige Pahlke: | [00:44] | Doing well, Jim, how are you? |
| Jim Puritz: | [00:46] | Good. Today I'd like to talk about uninsured motorist coverage. What is uninsured motorist coverage? |
| Paige Pahlke: | [00:52] | Uninsured motorist coverage is the coverage that comes into play when you are hit by a vehicle or by a driver who doesn't have insurance or by a hit-and-run motorist. |
| Jim Puritz: | [01:03] | And is this something that everyone has or only special policies have? |
| Paige Pahlke: | [01:08] | Yep. So by law, everyone has at least the minimum limits. The minimum limits in North Carolina is $30,000 and it's $25,000 in South Carolina. |
| Jim Puritz: | [01:17] | And when this happens, let's say I'm driving, I get hit at a red light and then the person drives off. What do I do? Do I have to call the police? |
| Paige Pahlke: | [01:25] | Yes, you have to call the police and you need to provide the officer with all the information you have regarding the driver who hits you so they can hopefully be identified. That's a duty that you have is to provide all the information that you have. |
| Jim Puritz: | [01:37] | This uninsured motorist coverage, let's say I'd like more of it. It seems like something that's safe and protective for me and my family. Let's say I want to add more. Is that something that I can do. |
| Paige Pahlke: | [01:47] | Yes, you can. You can pay to purchase more uninsured motorist coverage. In North Carolina, you can actually purchase more than you have in liability coverage. South Carolina is a little bit different. In South Carolina, you can purchase more uninsured motorist coverage, but you can only do so up to the extent of the liability coverage you carry. Let's say in South Carolina, you have a $50,000 liability policy. That means that you can purchase $50,000, but you can't purchase more than that in South Carolina. In North Carolina, you can purchase more so you could purchase $100,000 in uninsured motorist coverage if you wanted to, even if you only had a $50,000 liability policy. |
| Jim Puritz: | [02:31] | And because it seems like such a good thing, are there other ways to get other uninsured motorist coverage say from a friend or a family member living under the same roof? |
| Paige Pahlke: | [02:42] | That's a great question. A friend living under the same roof? No, but there is something called a resident relative. If you live with a family member, a spouse, a parent, or a child and they have a vehicle of their own and it's insured and they have uninsured motorist coverage on that vehicle, then we could seek to recover under that coverage as well. |
| Jim Puritz: | [03:07] | How does someone determine, let's say a client comes in to meet you, how do you determine if they have this uninsured motorist coverage? |
| Paige Pahlke: | [03:13] | What we're going to be doing is looking at the declaration page and we talked about that in an earlier podcast. That's the page that sets forth the types of coverages you have and what you paid for those coverages. And on there, there'll be a line item setting forth the amount of uninsured motorist coverage that you have, along the lines of the additional coverage. One thing I wanted to mention, if you have separate vehicles that are insured under a separate policy, you can also access that coverage as well. Or we could help you seek to access that coverage. |
| Jim Puritz: | [03:48] | Is that something you could also find out through the declaration page? |
| Paige Pahlke: | [04:50] | Yes. When my potential clients come in to meet for the first time, I always ask them to bring in the declaration page for the vehicle that was involved in the collision as well as the declaration page for any other vehicles they own. And then I'm always asking them if they live with family members and asking for those declaration pages as well so we can take a look at them and determine how much coverage is available. |
| Jim Puritz: | [04:14] | Well, thank you very much, Paige. Thank you for coming in today and talking about uninsured motorist coverage with us. |
| Paige Pahlke: | [04:18] | Great to be here, Jim. Thanks. |
| Outro: | [04:22] | We appreciate you joining us on this episode of When Accidents Happen. To learn more about today's discussion or to tell us your story, visit our website at brownmoorelaw.com. That's B-R-O-W-N-M-O-O-R-E-L-A-W.com or call (704) 335-1500. The insights and views presented in When Accidents Happen are for general information purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. The information presented is not a substitute for consulting with an attorney, nor does tuning into this podcast constitute an attorney client relationship of any kind. If you're ready for the personal attention you deserve, contact Brown Moore and Associates today. |