Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Georgia
Every driver in the state of Georgia is required to carry minimal amounts of liability automobile insurance. This requirement ensures that coverage will apply if there is an accident that causes bodily injury or property damage. In Georgia, you look to the other driver’s insurance company to help you deal with your losses associated with the crash.
What happens if the at-fault driver does not have auto insurance or does not have enough coverage to address your injuries fully? Thankfully, there are coverage options in Georgia to help you deal with these situations. Underinsured motorist coverage addresses problems associated with having substantial losses, but there is typically not enough insurance coverage to completely compensate you.
Minimum Amounts of Insurance Coverage in Georgia
Drivers are required to carry certain types of insurance with a minimum dollar amount of coverage. The coverage includes:
- $25,000 per individual for injuries to the body
- $50,000 per accident for injuries to the body
- $25,000 per accident for property damage
In serious accidents, these coverage amounts may dissipate quickly. Medical bills can easily climb above these limits when victims must use ambulance services and emergency care. Individuals can elect to carry more coverage, but people often do not. In fact, approximately 10% of Georgia drivers do not have insurance at all.
Underinsured and Uninsured Coverage Options
Insurance companies that operate in Georgia are required to offer you uninsured and underinsured (UM/UIM) purchase options. In fact, it is often part of your overarching insurance policy. In many situations, you may have this type of coverage without realizing it. This is because you often must reject these coverage options in writing to remove them from your insurance policy. Check the declarations page of your insurance policy to determine whether you have this type of coverage.
If your policy includes underinsured or uninsured benefits, it will often apply to your spouse and children or stepchildren residing in your household. It will also usually cover anyone who is using your vehicle with your consent and passengers riding in your insured vehicle. However, these general rules may not apply to your specific situation, so it is important to review your policy language to determine the extent of your coverage after an automobile collision.
Add-on and Difference in Limits Underinsurance Coverage
There are two types of underinsured policies in Georgia. The first is called “difference in limits”. In this more traditional kind of policy, the amount of coverage available to you through your underinsurance coverage may not be as straightforward as you might think. Your underinsurance coverage will only apply to the extent of your policy, regardless of how much the at-fault driver has paid. For example, imagine you have an underinsurance policy of $100,000. The at-fault driver has $25,000 in bodily injury coverage. You would take your total amount of coverage and subtract the at-fault driver’s coverage, so you will only be able to receive $75,000 from your insurance company for underinsurance benefits. Under this type of coverage, you never receive more in total than your underinsurance coverage provides.
“Add-on” policies, on the other hand, disregard the other driver’s insurance coverage and add on any coverage for your policy to the other driver’s policy. In the above example, you would have a total of $125,000 in coverage–$25,000 from the other driver and $100,000 from your insurance policy.
Determining how to interpret your insurance policy or which coverage you should get can be tricky. If you have questions about your insurance or if you are having trouble dealing with an insurance company after an accident, call the car accident attorneys at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter for help at 833 – LEGALGA.
