York County, PA Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Accident Attorney

Unless you purchase uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, you are not covered if you are injured in an accident with one of the state’s thousands of uninsured motorists. Having these two types of coverage does not increase your premiums that much, and choosing to forgo them could wind up costing you thousands of dollars that you would have otherwise been able to collect. Contact an uninsured/underinsured motorist accident attorney from Ilkhanoff & Silverstein for a free case evaluation.

It is important to have UM/UIM coverage

UM/UIM coverage covers you and your family whether you are a driver, passenger, pedestrian, or the victim of a hit-and-run accident. Our firm encourages you to purchase a minimum of $100,000/$300,000 of UM/UIM coverage if possible. All insurance policies in Pennsylvania are required to include uninsured motorist coverage unless coverage is specifically rejected in writing by the insured. While some Pennsylvania drivers choose to reject this coverage so they can save money on their premium each month, forgoing this coverage can be a costly mistake and we recommend that you never reject such coverage.

Stacking UM or UIM Coverage

Pennsylvania drivers have the option of stacking UM or UIM coverage. By stacking UM or UIM coverage, you can either multiply the amount of the UM or UIM coverage by the number of vehicles on your policy or you can receive UM or UIM coverage from more than one policy of which you are insured.

For example, let’s say you have two vehicles on your policy and each vehicle has $100,000 for stacking. If you were seriously injured by an at-fault driver who only has liability limits of $15,000, you could collect $200,000 of uninsured motorist coverage from your own policy plus the $15,000 from the at-fault driver.

If you did not have stacking, then you could have only collected $100,000 from your own policy and $15,000 from the other person’s policy, with a total recovery of $115,000. Even worse, if you didn’t have any underinsured motorist coverage, then you could have only collected $15,000 from the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier. That’s a big problem, especially if it was a serious injury accident where your medical bills exceeded $200,000.

Uninsured and Underinsured Accident Claims in York & Lancaster County, PA

There is no way to prevent being in an auto accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver. For most, taking legal action against the other party can be futile. Most of the time, if a person doesn’t have insurance, they probably don’t have any money to make a lawsuit worthwhile. It is very important to have enough UM/UIM coverage to protect you after an accident. This way you give yourself the best protection even when you’re insured. Whether your case calls for mediation or litigation, contact Ilkhanoff & Silverstein.