Liability insurance is one of the biggest costs of motor vehicle ownership. Kentucky state law requires that every driver purchase a policy in case they cause a crash. Insurance requirements include both property damage and bodily injury liability coverage. When someone is at fault for a wreck, their policy can provide the other people affected by the collision with compensation. Yet, many people understandably worry about what coverage they will have available to them if someone else causes a wreck and they are injured as a result.
People do have the option of adding extra coverage to their policies to protect against more expensive crashes and a variety of other situations. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage are both popular additions to standard insurance policies. Why are they so valuable for Kentucky drivers?
There are many uninsured drivers
There are thousands of drivers in Kentucky who may let their insurance policies lapse. If they cause a crash, there won’t be any liability coverage to reimburse the other people involved. Kentucky has a relatively high percentage of uninsured motorists, at least based on insurance industry data from 2019. Approximately 13.9% of Kentucky drivers do not have coverage at any given moment. Uninsured motorist protection can also cover costs in hit-and-run collisions.
There are countless underinsured drivers
For every motorist who cancels their policy or fails to pay their premium, there are multiple other people with very poor coverage. A large number of Kentucky drivers focus only on price and carry the minimum coverage that state law mandates. If a vehicle is a total loss, the $25,000 in property damage coverage available may not be enough to purchase a new vehicle. If someone gets hurt or an individual dies in a crash, the coverage available for bodily injury protection may be far less than what people actually require. Underinsured motorist coverage can help pay for some of the expenses that an at-fault driver’s coverage should pay for if they had enough insurance.
The choice to add additional coverage to a policy can protect people from uncertainty on the road. Ultimately, those without supplemental coverage may need to consider filing personal injury lawsuits when they get hurt in a crash caused by someone without insurance or with very bad coverage.