Author Topic: Collision insurance vs. Uninsured motorist (Motor vehicle)  (Read 3533 times)

RiskDown

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Collision insurance vs. Uninsured motorist (Motor vehicle)
« on: July 11, 2014, 01:36:43 PM »
Simple vehicle insurance question for you experts in the field.

If I have collision insurance on my vehicle, get hit by an uninsured motorist, and it's their fault... My collision coverage will cover the cost of my car --  correct, if they are unable/unwilling to?

Uninsured motorist is for medical coverage right?

I ask, because I have kick ass medical insurance and have zero need to be covered under an auto policy further.

Thanks!

/my mistake, wrong forum, plz move to "ask"

gimp

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Re: Collision insurance vs. Uninsured motorist (Motor vehicle)
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2014, 03:04:20 PM »
Correct. As far as I understand it.

There are two types of uninsured motorist coverage. The first is liability of the medical sort. Someone hits you, your passenger is hurt, the at-fault don't have coverage. This is the kind you want to get.

The second is collision. If you drive an older car and don't have collision or comprehensive, you can still get uninsured motorist property damage coverage. Won't help if you hit someone, but if someone hits you - usually their insurance covers it - but if they have none, yours will. I actually pay for this, because it costs me an extra $15 a year. Versus collision and comprehensive which are about $300 a year.

dragoncar

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Re: Collision insurance vs. Uninsured motorist (Motor vehicle)
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2014, 03:09:00 PM »
Liability goes beyond medical, though... preface me saying I am not sure about this, but I thought UIM gives you what you could have collected in a crash with an insured motorist.  Pain and suffering.  Lost wages.  Etc.  Hopefully it covers that, or imma be dropping UIM coverage.

Nords

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Re: Collision insurance vs. Uninsured motorist (Motor vehicle)
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2014, 03:55:49 PM »
Uninsured motorist is for medical coverage right?
I ask, because I have kick ass medical insurance and have zero need to be covered under an auto policy further.
It's simply asking your own insurance company to pay you the compensation that you'd normally get by suing the other guy who's responsible for inflicting the damage upon you.

If you're permanently disabled (in a coma or a quadriplegic) by someone, then you'd want compensation for your loss of lifetime earnings.  Or if your spouse was killed in the collision, then you'd want compensation for that.  At the very least you'd want the other driver to cover your complete rehab from your injuries, not just whatever kick ass medical insurance would cover.  And finally, if their slamming into your car causes you to damage other cars/property, then you'd want them to cover that too.

My spouse and I are medically insured by Tricare, which is incredibly cheap and fairly good.  Our daughter was only covered past age 21 if she was a full-time college student, and then only to age 23.  When we were raising her, we carried uninsured/underinsured coverage to handle any lifelong disability or other problems inflicted on her by an auto accident.  When she moved out and got her own job/insurance, we looked into cancelling our UM/UIM.  It turned out to be a savings of only a few bucks a month, so we're keeping it.

dragoncar

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Re: Collision insurance vs. Uninsured motorist (Motor vehicle)
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2014, 06:43:52 PM »
Uninsured motorist is for medical coverage right?
I ask, because I have kick ass medical insurance and have zero need to be covered under an auto policy further.
It's simply asking your own insurance company to pay you the compensation that you'd normally get by suing the other guy who's responsible for inflicting the damage upon you.

If you're permanently disabled (in a coma or a quadriplegic) by someone, then you'd want compensation for your loss of lifetime earnings.  Or if your spouse was killed in the collision, then you'd want compensation for that.  At the very least you'd want the other driver to cover your complete rehab from your injuries, not just whatever kick ass medical insurance would cover.  And finally, if their slamming into your car causes you to damage other cars/property, then you'd want them to cover that too.

My spouse and I are medically insured by Tricare, which is incredibly cheap and fairly good.  Our daughter was only covered past age 21 if she was a full-time college student, and then only to age 23.  When we were raising her, we carried uninsured/underinsured coverage to handle any lifelong disability or other problems inflicted on her by an auto accident.  When she moved out and got her own job/insurance, we looked into cancelling our UM/UIM.  It turned out to be a savings of only a few bucks a month, so we're keeping it.

Yeah, UIM looks like a good idea for anyone who has high potential losses -- like if I become injured the state minimum insurance will cover maybe a single month of lost wages.