Copyright © 2011 Benjamin Glass

The start of the year is a great time to do a check up on your car insurance policy.

Do you understand what your policy does and does not cover? Do you have enough coverage? Do you have enough of the “unobvious” coverage?

Most people understand the concept of buying car insurance to protect their own assets if they carelessly hurt someone else or to get their own car repaired if it is damaged.

But what happens if you are hit and injured by someone who has no insurance at all? Think it can’t happen? Think again.

First, there are some people who simply have let their insurance lapse. In this time of severe economic hardship the car insurance bill is sometimes the bill that doesn’t get paid. Car insurance companies are quick to cancel when you don’t pay.

Second, Virginia is one of those few states where it is perfectly legal to drive without car insurance. When you register a car in Virginia you have a choice. You can either buy car insurance or pay a $500 fee to the uninsured motorist fund. When someone pays the $500 fee they are legally allowed to drive without insurance.

With today’s out of control medical costs, even a moderate injury from a car accident can set you back tens of thousands of dollars.

The way that you protect yourself is by buying “uninsured” and “underinsured” motorist insurance coverage. Buy lots of it. It is cheap.

Recently a young lady was severely injured in a car accident. She had been smart enough to buy $100,000 of uninsured motorist coverage but it was not enough to cover her injuries. What she later discovered is that for an additional premium of $34 per year, she could have had $1,000,000 of coverage. Had she known at the time how cheap this additional insurance was she would have been able to be properly compensated for her injuries.

This type of coverage will protect you if the person who causes the accident either has no car insurance or has less insurance than you do. (Thus the use of the term “underinsurance.”) In either situation your own insurance company will step in to provide you with additional coverage to pay for your injuries, medical bills, lost wages and any pain and suffering damages you are entitled to. It will also provide coverage for future medical bills.

Two warnings: most insurance agents don’t understand the importance of buying lots of uninsured motorist coverage and thus, don’t explain this concept well. Second, your agent may attempt to sell you an ‘umbrella’ policy when you discuss this with them. An umbrella policy is good to have but most umbrella policies do not provide uninsured motorist coverage, so even if you have lots of umbrella coverage you still may not be adequately insured if you are hit by someone who is driving without car insurance.

Ben Glass is a personal injury attorney in Fairfax, Virginia. He is a frequent speaker on personal injury topics. You can see a short video that explains the concepts in this article at www.AgentMalpractice.com

Shopping for a car insurance policy can be an unusual experience for consumers.  Virginia has what is known as a competitive rating law.  This essentially means that the different insurance companies will be charging different rates for car insurance.

The first step to successfully shopping for car insurance in Virginia is by gaining as much knowledge on the subject as possible.  You can learn more about insurance types and additional coverages through The Ultimate Guide to Car Insurance in Virginia.  Being educated on what you need will save you money in the end by not buying excess coverage.

Next you should call around to insurance agents for different companies in the area to get quotes on your annual premium.  Just as with any other product, you want to shop around before selecting the best product for you.  Make sure you’re getting one year quotes and not six month quotes.

You may even want to consider buying a one-year policy rather than a six-month policy in order to avoid so many premium increases.

Next, after you have narrowed down your search based on pricing, learn more about the reliability of the companies.  You can learn a lot from friends and neighbors who will have had a wide variety of experiences with their various insurers.

Once you’ve prepared to make the investment, double check your finances and make sure that the policy you’ve chosen is the right fit.  Then you’re prepared to be a well-insured, smart consumer.

Too many people in Virginia don’t understand how much car insurance they need. I think the car insurance salespeople don’t do a good job of explaining things. Watch this video. I’ve also written a book, The Virginia Guide to Buying Car Insurance.

Click here to view the embedded video.