Minimum Insurance in Virginia May Fail to Cover Your Injuries

Auto accidents are an unfortunate fact of life. Sooner or later they are more than likely to happen to you. As such the State of Virginia mandates that a driver has a minimum of $30,000. However is that really enough to adequately cover you in the eventuality of a collision?

As I explain in this video, the answer is no. Minimum coverage is just that, minimum coverage. In reality one should really have at minimum $100,000 or preferably $300,000 worth of coverage. This is not only to protect you, which it does, but more importantly protects you from other drivers who may injure you in a motor vehicle accident. Those other drivers may very well be uninsured or only have minimum coverage. If you are unfortunate enough to suffer a serious injury, with an overnight stay in a hospital, suffer from broken bones, and the like, that minimum is not going to compensate you for what you went through. It’s not going to compensate you for your injuries.

Getting more insurance helps you in the eventuality that you get into an accident with an uninsured driver because all Virginia policies have uninsured motorist coverage that is equal to the coverage you have to protect other folks you injure, unless you sign away this coverage. Furthermore, if you get hit by a driver who has purchased less insurance that you have you can be protected by underinsured motorist coverage which allows you to file a claim with your insurance company after an accident with an underinsured motorist. Your insurance company may then pay you up to the difference between your UIM limit and the limit of the other party’s insurance.

In The Best Book About Virginia Car Accidents and Injuries, which I co-authored with my colleague John Cooper, we talk about what you need to know about car insurance. Contact Cooper Hurley at 757.455.0077 or see CooperHurley.com. See our information about what to do if you are in a car accident in Virginia.