Uninsured Motorist Coverage-To Stack or Not to Stack???
Cruising down Orange Blossom Trail minding your own business, listening to some classic rock on the radio when BAM! You are rear ended by a texting teen. Your head whips back and then forward into the steering wheel. Paramedics arrive and transport you to the ER. The Doctor says you have a concussion, whiplash and damage to your neck. He is scheduling surgery.
After your Florida No-Fault/PIP pays its $10,000. You now have $169,874 in medical bills. Did I mention you were hit by a teenager? He has liability limits of $10,000. Florida is in the top 5 for uninsured or underinsured drivers and you just met one of them. Now what? You can hire a lawyer and spend years trying to recoup your losses, or have the most Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist possible. In Florida Uninsured and Underinsured coverage are both included in your UM protection.
The most Uninsured Motorist you can get is equal to your bodily Injury limits. So if you have $100,000 in liability protection you can buy $100,000 in UM. But something many people don't know is that you can STACK IT. If your uninsured motorist coverage is non-Stacked, then you have the amount of protection listed on your policy. If it's STACKED you actually get that amount multiplied by the number of vehicles on your policy. So if you have 100/300 UM and two cars, you will have 200/600. Now this sounds great and simple, but we are talking about insurance. Stacked Uninsured Motorist (UM) does a lot more than increase limits. STACKING will also broaden the coverage. There are many times that a non stacked Uninsured Motorist won't pay, but STACKED WILL. But how does this help if you only have one car?
There are several excellent reasons to STACK the UM even if you only have 1 car:
- If you purchase a new vehicle and forget to call us (usually within 14 days), and you are in an accident. Your Non Stacked UM will not respond. Stacked will.
- You have two vehicles, one up north and one down here. You do not carry UM on one of the vehicles, but you do on the other. You get into an accident with the vehicle with no UM. Non-Stacked doesn't pay. Stacked will.
- If you have a motorcycle and have non -stacked UM on your personal auto policy no coverage for a motorcycle accident. Stacked Will. Yes you read that right, you can get benefits from your stacked UM personal auto policy for a motorcycle accident.
- You and your wife have separate policies. You have UM on your policy, but she does not. If you are injured in her vehicle, non-Stacked doesn't pay, Stacked Will
- If you have a kid in college and jointly own a car with them. Your kid controls the insurance and rejects the UM. You are in that car and in an accident. Your Non Stacked UM will not pay out. Stacked will
As you can see STACKING IS GOOD! What kind of UM do you have? Not sure? Give us a call and we will be happy to review your policy with you. Just remember, STACKING IS GOOD!!