Underinsured and Uninsured insurance coverage is so important that another post on the subject is warranted. As a motorcycle accident attorney, one of my main responsibilities is to make sure that my motorcycle clients take advantage of all of the uninsured and underinsured insurance coverage available to them. In this post, I will write about how for a motorcyclist to determine the amount of uninsured and underinsured coverage available to them if they are injured in a motorcycle accident in North Carolina.
You need both uninsured and underinsured coverage.
Again, uninsured coverage covers the motorcyclist if the vehicle causing the motorcycle accident is deemed an uninsured vehicle. Underinsured coverage provides coverage if the driver causing your motorcycle accident does not have sufficient liability insurance to cover your personal injury claim and the total amount of your underinsured coverage is greater than the other driver’s liability coverage. Be advised, if you have $30,000.00 of liability insurance coverage on a vehicle, you can only have uninsured coverage on that vehicle.
Per Person and Per Accident
When checking the uninsured and underinsured coverage under an insurance policy, you will probably see designated coverage amounts of per person and per accident. For example, if you’re uninsured and underinsured coverage reads $100,000.00/$300,000.00, that means that for that particular policy, the insurance company will pay out no more than $100,000.00 of coverage per inured person in connection with a particular accident, and no more than $300,000.00 total for an accident no matter how many individuals could make a claim under that policy.
Policies that may provide uninsured and underinsured coverage to the motorcyclist or passenger
– the insurance policy on the motorcycle involved in the accident
– any other separate insurance policies on cars or trucks you own (even though you were not in that car or truck at the time of the motorcycle accident)
– insurance policies of any family members living in the same household
– NOTE: there may be other insurance policies that apply and that can only be determined by a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the motorcycle accident
Adding Together Coverages under Multiple Policies
Under the standard North Carolina insurance policy, no matter whether somebody is involved in a motorcycle or car accident, an individual can add together (or commonly referred to as stack), the uninsured and underinsured coverage under each separate insurance policy that provides coverage to the motorcyclist. For example, if a motorcyclist has $100,000.00 of uninsured and underinsured coverage under his motorcycle insurance policy and $50,000.00 of uninsured and underinsured coverage under a separate car insurance policy, then the motorcyclist has a total of $150,000.00 of uninsured and underinsured coverage available if involved in a motorcycle accident.
I stress uninsured and underinsured coverage because when you are riding on your motorcycle or in your car or truck, you have got to assume that all of the other vehicles on the road you see have no insurance or maintain the minimum amount of insurance coverage of $30,000.00 per person and $30,000.00 does not come close to adequately compensating a motorcyclist that is seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.
If you unfortunately find yourself involved in a motorcycle accident and would like to talk to a lawyer, please do not hesitate to give me a call. The consultation is always free. If you would like to meet in person, I am happy to meet you at a location convenient to you in your home town.
Gary Poole “On the Side Of Those Who Ride”