What is Uninsured Motorists Coverage and What Happens if I Don't Have It?

Car accidents are as traumatic as they are common and can be extremely expensive. While Louisiana requires every motorist to carry at least minimum liability insurance on their vehicle, more than 13 percent of Louisiana drivers violate the rule. Specifically, the Insurance Research Council recently released a report entitled “Uninsured Motorists: 2017” which recognized Louisiana as the 20th most uninsured state and that our number of uninsured motorists (13 percent) was above the national average.

Uninsured motorist coverage is an optional coverage available to you on your liability auto policy providing insurance coverage in the specific event that you are injured through the fault of an uninsured individual. Additionally, uninsured motorist coverage provides underinsured driver benefits in the frequent scenario where the at-fault driver has insurance but only at the required Louisiana minimum amount ($15,000 per person, $30,000 per accident).

The only thing worse than getting in an auto accident is getting in an auto accident when the other driver doesn’t have insurance or doesn’t have enough insurance.

Under Louisiana law, your auto insurance company must offer uninsured motorist coverage in an amount equal to your auto liability insurance. As experienced personal injury attorneys who have handled thousands of personal injury auto accidents, our firm Anderson Blanda & Saltzman recommends to all clients and friends that they purchase standard uninsured motorist insurance. As important as it is to have liability insurance to address your negligence if you hurt someone, it is equally important to protect yourself in the event that you are injured through the fault of a motorist driving without liability insurance or with not enough.

If you have a question about uninsured motorist insurance coverage or your auto liability insurance policy, please contact our experienced personal injury plaintiff attorneys at Anderson Blanda & Saltzman.