Maybe people are surprised when they find out that they have been paying extra premiums to their automobile insurer for uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) coverage. This extra coverage acts as a supplement if you are involved in a car accident, truck accident, or motorcycle accident and the person who hit you either does not have automobile insurance to cover your damages or has a low limit policy. For example, if you carry underinsured coverage for $50,000.00 and the person who hit you only has liability insurance which covers $12,500.00 (Ohio’s state minimum), then your insurance would be liable for $37,500.00 of your damages above and beyond the $12,500.00 if the damages amount to $50,000.00 or more. You pay extra in your premiums for this added protection in the event you are injured in a car or automobile accident in Ohio. In other words, when you make a claim against your own insurance company for UM/UIM benefits, you are seeking to obtain the compensation which you have been paying for. Ohio law prevents your insurance company from raising your premiums for making a claim against your insurer for UM/UIM benefits. Again, this is because you are only asking your insurance company to provide to you what you have already paid for. This does not mean that the insurance company will not attempt to raise your rates for some other alleged reason.
For more information about this subject go to www.Chesterlaw.com and request a copy of my free Book entitled The Insider’s Guide to Handling Ohio Accident Claims. You can also order my free DVD entitled What you should know about motor vehicle injury claims. Both the free Book and free DVD describe in more detail what you need to know to protect your rights NOW.