subject: How To Protect You And Your Family From A Hit And Run Accident [print this page] Have you or a loved one been involved in a car accident this year? No one wants to think about being involved in a car accident. The truth is there are more than 6 million accidents and 40,000 deaths each year which make car and motorcycle accidents the #1 cause of accidental disability and death. Sadly, many of these accidents are caused by careless drivers who cause an accident and then flee the scene. Some people leave the scene because they do not have insurance or they are scared; others leave because they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. What most Iowans don't know is that there is only one type of insurance coverage that can protect you if you or someone in your family are hit by a hit and run driver. The insurance companies probably have not told you, but I will even though I do not sell insurance. Uninsured motorist insurance coverage is the only car and motorcycle insurance that protects you and your family if you are hit by a hit and run driver. Uninsured motorist coverage provides coverage to pay for medical bills, lost wages along with injury and permanent disability caused by a hit and run accident.
Do you know how much uninsured motorist coverage you have to protect you and your family from a hit and run driver? My experience is that most Iowans do not know without checking their policy. If you have enough UM- uninsured motorist coverage and a driver leaves the scene of an accident, then your insurance company will pay for your damages up to the limits of the insurance coverage you purchased.
Also, keep in mind that when you buy more coverage, you are also buying more UIM-underinsured motorist coverage so if you are hit by a driver without enough insurance (from our experience about 80% of Iowa drivers do not have enough insurance) or if you are at fault for an accident (this is covered under your liability coverage) then you will have additional coverage available to protect you and your family.
However, there is a cap also known as a policy limit which will limit the amount of damages that you can recover. If you are injured in an accident and the person responsible has a policy limit of $40,000, but your medical bills are more, any over bills that amount will not be covered by their insurance policy which is why it's important to have underinsured motorist coverage for you and your family.
State of Iowa minimum insurance coverage: $20,000/$40,000. This is the very minimum you are required to have when insuring your vehicle or motorcycle. Whenever car or motorcycle insurance coverage says $20,000/$40,000 or $300,000/$500,000, this is the amount of coverage that is available "per person" injured and what the total coverage is available to all persons injured in a single crash. So, if you only have $20,000/$40,000 coverage, each injured person would only be covered up to $20,000 for all of their injuries sustained in a hit a run accident. The total coverage available for the hit and run accident would only be $40,000. If four people are hurt in the accident caused by a hit and run drive, then the most any one person would receive is $20,000, but all five people would have to share the total amount of insurance coverage available which would be $40,000.
A recent survey that we conducted of the leading insurance companies revealed that for most Iowa drivers the difference between having $20,000 and $500,000 in coverage ranges from a low $.15 per day to a high of $.72 per day. Would you like to know which insurance company we found had the lowest car insurance rates?
