Weddings are not usually where I expect to receive an insurance lesson.
But recently, somewhere between the ceremony, dinner and the dance floor, I found myself talking with one of our community’s best-known attorneys. He is intelligent, famously colorful, slightly eccentric and, to those who know him, entirely lovable.
He gave me a direct challenge: Insurance professionals need to talk more about uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.
Without sharing names or confidential details, he told me about cases involving people who were seriously injured through no fault of their own. They had jobs, families, homes and financial plans. Many believed they had “good insurance.”
Then they were hit by a driver who either had no insurance or carried only a small amount.
The injured family may have had a strong legal case, but a strong case does not create money where none exists. When the at-fault driver has little insurance and few collectible assets, even the best attorney can be left with limited options.
That is where uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage—commonly called UM/UIM—becomes so important.
Uninsured motorist coverage can protect you and your passengers for covered bodily injuries when an at-fault driver has no applicable liability insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage can respond when the driver has insurance, but the available limit is not enough to cover the injuries caused.
In Ohio, UM/UIM coverage is optional, while a driver can meet the state’s financial-responsibility requirement with bodily injury liability limits as low as $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. A minimum limit can disappear quickly after a serious crash.
Consider what can follow a life-changing accident: surgery, rehabilitation, missed work, reduced earning ability and ongoing care. Health insurance may pay a portion of eligible medical bills, but it is not designed to make a family financially whole. It does not automatically replace future income or compensate for permanent impairment.
The wedding conversation stayed with me because of one irony.
Many people buy adequate liability insurance to protect their assets if they accidentally injure someone else. Some also purchase a personal umbrella policy for an additional layer of liability protection. Those are smart decisions.
Yet those same people may carry much lower UM/UIM limits—or reject the coverage entirely—to save what may be a relatively small amount. They may be well insured against the damage they could cause to a stranger, while being poorly insured against the damage a stranger could cause to them.
There is another frequently overlooked opportunity: Depending on the insurance company, excess UM/UIM protection may also be available through a personal umbrella policy.
A standard umbrella is generally designed to provide additional liability protection when you are legally responsible for injuring someone else. It should not be assumed that it also protects you when an uninsured or underinsured driver injures you.
Some insurers offer excess UM/UIM coverage as an option or endorsement. When included, it can provide another layer of protection above the UM/UIM limit on the underlying auto policy after that limit has been exhausted. Availability, limits and requirements vary by insurer and state.
The question should not simply be:
“Do I have an umbrella policy?”
It should also be:
“Does my umbrella include excess uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage?”
This is not simply an issue for wealthy families. “Family wealth” can mean a retirement account built one paycheck at a time, home equity, college savings, a small business, farmland or the future income a household expects to earn. A catastrophic injury can force a family to redirect or liquidate those resources just to maintain daily life.
Adequate UM/UIM coverage cannot undo an injury, and every claim remains subject to the wording, exclusions and limits of the policy. But it can materially change the financial options available after a serious loss.
The additional premium is often more manageable than people expect. The actual cost varies by driver, vehicle, carrier and selected limit, so it should be quoted rather than assumed. Ask your agent to show you the cost of carrying UM/UIM limits equal to your bodily injury liability limits.
If you have an umbrella—or are considering one—also ask whether excess UM/UIM coverage is available, what underlying auto limits are required and what it would cost to include it.
Then ask a more useful question:
If the worst driver on the road caused a permanent injury to someone in my family, how much protection would we want available?
The attorney at the wedding was reminding me that agents and attorneys see this issue from different ends. Agents help people make decisions before an accident. Attorneys often meet families afterward, when the policy has already been written and the available limits cannot be changed.
His message was simple: Talk about this coverage before it becomes the most important coverage someone wishes they had purchased.
Pull out your auto and umbrella declarations pages and look for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. If the auto limit is missing, rejected or substantially lower than your liability limit—or if your umbrella does not extend UM/UIM protection—have a conversation with your agent.
A few minutes, and what may be a modest premium difference, could help preserve what your family has spent a lifetime building.