Transcript:

I want to talk to you today about uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. And that type of coverage, which is in your policy, of which you’ve been paying every time you pay the premium is kind of what it sounds like.

If the person who injures you is uninsured or underinsured, your own insurance policy will supplement the available money in your case to make sure you’re fully compensated for your damages.

Now, many people will say, “Why should I use my own policy?” Well, that’s why you’re paying that premium. You’ve been paying it every time you pay your policy premium, so why not use it? It’s like having healthcare or life insurance, right? When you need it, use it.

The other worry people have, is whether the insurance company will raise their rates or cancel the policy because they use uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. The answer is, “no.”

First, I’ve been doing this for over 30 years and I’ve never seen an insurance company take any adverse action, and why? It’s illegal.

There’s a statute in Virginia that makes it illegal for an insurance company to take action by raising rates or cancelling policies against anybody who uses their uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, so use it!

It’s there, you’re paying for it. In addition, if you have any resident relatives, meaning, people you’re living with and who are related to you, your aunt, your sister, your spouse your children, and they have auto insurance policies.

They also have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. They can help you or your policy could help them, and it’s the same thing. They’ve been paying for that coverage every time they pay their premium, and it would be illegal for the insurance company to take any action against them or their policy if they let you use it to supplement your damages in your case.

And that’s the worry most people have, if I let my brother, my sister, my mom use my policy, isn’t then going to cost me more, isn’t the insurance company going to cancel my policy.

No, it would be illegal, I’ve never seen it happen, and it’s not going to happen. It’s because you’ve been paying for the premiums, they’ve been paying for the premiums, so the law protects you when you need to use that.

The wreck wasn’t your fault, the wreck wasn’t their fault, so the insurance company is not allowed to take any action against them for letting you use their policy.

If you want to talk about this some more, give use a call. We’ll tell you how he use insurance law to maximize recovery every day here at Rutter Mills.

Thank you.