When you head out the door on your way to work or school every morning, you probably don’t give much thought to what could happen on the road. After all, you’re a safe driver, and accidents happen to other people, not you.
Hopefully you’re right. But just in case the unthinkable happens, it’s in your best interest to have good auto insurance coverage. Rebecca and Josh Johnson of Minneapolis, learned that firsthand.
“We were on our way home from the store when a red light runner t-boned our car. My husband was driving and only suffered a few bumps and bruises, but I was hurt so badly I spent three months in the hospital,” says Rebecca. Among the injuries she suffered, a subdural hematoma (head injury), a collapsed lung, several broken ribs and a fractured clavicle. “I am positive that if I hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Fortunately, the Johnsons had good auto insurance. Once Rebecca got out of the hospital, she had enough insurance money to replace her totaled car with a new one. Her policy also covered a portion of her hospital bills, and provided her with compensation for lost wages.
But she and her husband didn’t receive a penny of compensation from the underinsured driver who caused the accident. All the woman’s policy offered was a $10,000 PIP payment, which went directly to the hospital.
Situations like this one underscore the importance of making sure you have sufficient car insurance coverage. The Insurance Information Institute recommends drivers carry at least $100,000 of bodily injury protection per person and $300,000 per accident (known as 100/300).
That’s what the Johnsons had at the time of the accident. The driver who hit them, however, had 10/20/10 coverage, all that was required in Florida, the state where the accident happened. The policy offered $10,000 for injury liability for one person, $20,000 for all injuries and $10,000 for property damage in an accident.
“Our uninsured/underinsured coverage really saved the day,” says Johnson. She is also grateful that she and her husband carried collision coverage, which paid to replace their destroyed car, and replacement rental car coverage, which provided Josh Johnson with wheels during the month it took for the check to arrive from the insurance company.
As soon as Rebecca was ready to get back behind the wheel, she and her husband checked out the auto insurance rates for a 250/500 policy: $250,000 of bodily injury protection per person and $500,000 per accident. They found a company that offered rates they could afford and promptly increased their coverage.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
