Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because I get to spend a day with my extended family catching up, being thankful for another year and discussing the upcoming holiday season. For most of us, the holiday season means more travel time in a car. It is not something we want to think about, but car accidents are the #1 cause of accidental death and disability with more than 6 million accidents each year causing 3 million injuries and more than 42,500 deaths. Every year hundreds of Iowans are permanently disabled and killed in car accidents caused by drivers with little or no insurance. What many Iowans don’t know is that Iowa law only requires $20,000 in insurance coverage for bodily injuries. Given the rising costs of medical care, that barely covers a trip to the hospital and follow-up medical care. Statistically, about 12% of Iowans don’t carry any car insurance and we estimate that another 70% of Iowans don’t have enough.
What happens if you are involved in a car crash caused by one of these drivers and cannot return to work? What can be done to protect you and your family from irresponsible and uninsured drivers? The insurance companies probably have not told you, but I will and I do not sell insurance. I have found that what most Iowans don’t know is that uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance coverage is the only automobile insurance that protects them and their family. What does $20,000/$40,000 mean, anyway?

Whenever auto insurance coverage is expressed as $20,000/$40,000 or $300,000/$500,000, the policy is telling you what coverage is available “per person” injured in the accident and what total coverage is available to all persons injured in a single accident. So, if you have $20,000/$40,000 coverage, each injured person would be covered up to $20,000, but the total coverage available for the accident is only $40,000. If four people are hurt in the accident, the most any one person would be paid is $20,000 but all five people would have to share the total of $40,000. In this situation, if any one person’s damages exceeded $20,000, or if the entire claim of all people in the accident exceeds $40,000, you could be personally responsible for what the policy did not pay.

Do you know how much coverage you have to protect you and your family? My experience is that most Iowans don’t. If you have enough Uninsured(UM)/Underinsured(UIM) Motorist coverage and a driver who has either no insurance or not enough insurance hurts you or your family, then your insurance company will pay for your damages up to the limits of insurance coverage you purchased. Uninsured(UM) Motorist coverage is also very important because if you are the victim of a “hit and run” and the other driver is not caught, your UM coverage will provide you with protection. Okay, how much does it cost? A recent survey of the leading insurance companies shows that for most Iowa drivers the difference between $20,000 and $500,000 in coverage is less than a dollar per day. The cost fro increased coverage ranged from a low of $.15 per day to a high of $.72 per day. Would you like to know which car insurance company had the lowest rate and learn more about car insurance?

To hear a brief recorded message about how to order a free copy of a book entitled about “How to Buy Car Insurance to Protect You and Your Family”? Log onto www.IowaInsuranceBook.com or Call 1-800-707-2552 and enter ext. 214 (24 Hour Recorded Message). Why would I offer a free book to you? Because I believe that all Iowans should have the right information to make informed decisions when they are buying car insurance. Also, I have had too many clients who did not have enough insurance before their accident which resulted in them losing thousands of dollars.