A recent Ohio motorcycle case highlights the importance of your motorcycle insurance coverage
Uninsured motorist coverage (UM) protects you in the event you are injured when the at-fault driver does not have any insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) protects you when the at-fault driver does not have enough insurance to cover the full extent of your injuries. The cost for obtaining UM / UIM insurance is minimal and might save your future. For motorcyclists this type of insurance coverage is a no-brainer.
According to the Insurance Research Council roughly 14% of Ohio drivers do not carry any liability insurance. A large portion of the remaining cars on the road carry only minimum coverage. In Ohio the state minimum coverage for liability insurance is only $25,000. At Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima the damages in the majority of the motorcycle crash cases we handle are frequently hundreds of thousands of dollars and sometimes millions of dollars. Medical bills, alone, almost always exceed the $25,000 state minimum.
Typically, an insurance company will require a driver to carry at least as much liability insurance as UM / UIM insurance.
Recently we represented a longtime motorcycle rider who had a $250,000 liability policy on her motorcycle but no UM / UIM coverage. Unfortunately the at-fault driver only had the state minimum coverage which was well short of the actual damages in the case.
There is no reason for a motorcyclist to carry a large liability policy without a large UM / UIM policy. Most motorcycle crashes occur between passenger vehicles and motorcycles. The odds are extremely low that a motorcyclist will cause $250,000 worth of injuries in a crash with a passenger vehicle. It is, however, highly likely that the motorcyclist will have serious injuries in the event of a car crash which is why the UM / UIM policy should be high.
The monthly cost to add UM / UIM coverage is relatively low. All drivers, especially motorcycle riders, should have high underinsured insurance to protect themselves and their family from financial ruin in the event of a car crash.
The attorneys at Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima have handled numerous motorcycle injury and motorcycle death cases and pride themselves on helping motorcycle accident victims. Please call us today for a free case evaluation.