Uninsurance is an essential component of your automobile insurance policy. Even though the law in Massachusetts requires owners of vehicles registered in Commonwealth to have insurance, irresponsible drivers still operate cars without insurance and get into accidents. Victims of such accidents need an ability to recover damages they suffer when their vehicle is struck by a driver who has no insurance. This is why uninsurance is crucial.
Massachusetts requires uninsurance coverage in the amount of $20,000 per person or $40,000 per accident. If you or your passengers are injured in an automobile collision where the at-fault driver is uninsured, your insurer will pay up to $20,000 to any one person (up to a maximum of $40,000 for all injured passengers) per collision. You have the option to purchase additional uninsurance coverage and many insurers will offer coverage of $250,000/$500,000, often resulting in an additional insurance premium of less than $200 per year. The advantage of this low-cost, additional uninsurance protection is obvious: you get significantly more coverage for you and your passengers should a serious accident occur and the at-fault driver has no insurance.
Uninsurance also covers collisions with so-called “phantom vehicles.” You may have no way of identifying who is responsible for a collision if you are rear-ended and the at-fault driver quickly flees the scene. Your insurer is likely to thoroughly investigate the collision in an effort to locate the driver and hold them (or their insurer if they have insurance) responsible. However, unless that driver is located and they have a valid automobile insurance policy, your insurer is required to pay for damages you and your passengers sustain through uninsurance.
Similar to underinsurance, if you tender an uninsurance claim and you cannot settle on an amount that your insurer will pay for your damages, you do not file suit in court. Instead, you will have your case heard before a neutral arbitrator.
No one wants to get into an accident. However, when they do occur you want to make sure that you and your family have adequate insurance coverage in place to appropriately compensate you for your loss. That is why sufficient underinsurance and uninsurance coverage are very important components of your entire automobile insurance policy.
