When you buy Car Insurance in Pennsylvania Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage is Optional as is “stacking” of Uninsured/Underinsured Benefits. It’s critical to do both; buy substantial amounts of UM/UIM Coverage and Stack those Benefits.
Why?
Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage is critical to have because it protects you, the people who ride in your car and your family members who live with you if any of you sustain an injury in a car accident caused by someone else who doesn’t have any car insurance (Uninsured) or doesn’t have enough car insurance (Underinsured) to pay for the injuries and damages they cause (medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering etc.).
Having Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage allows you to make a compensation claim against your own insurance company to be compensated above what the responsible driver has to pay from his insurance. And, the Uninsured/Underinsured Claim won’t increase your insurance rates because you paid for the coverage.
What is “Stacking?
“Stacking” does two things, it allows you to combine UM/UIM Benefits in multiple car insurance policies (Inter-Policy Stacking) and it allows you to multiply UM/UIM Benefits in a multi-car policy (Intra-Policy Stacking).
Inter-Policy Stacking
Sometimes more than one Car Insurance Policy will apply to an accident. If that is the case and you choose Stacking on your Policy, then you can get extra UM/UIM Benefits.
Here’s an example. Assume that you are riding in a friend’s car and are seriously injured by another driver who has no insurance. Your first source of Uninsured Benefits (UM) would be the vehicle you are riding in. Assume that your injuries are worth $500,000 and your friend only has $100,000 of UM coverage on the car you were riding in. Then assume that you have $300,000 of UM coverage on your Car Insurance. If you chose Stacking, then you can also make a claim for $300,000 on your own UM Coverage. Stacking allows you to make claims on both policies.
Intra-Policy Stacking
Stacking also multiplies the amount of UM/UIM Coverage by the number of vehicles insured on a multi-vehicle policy. If you have 4 vehicles on your Car Insurance Policy and $300,000 of UM/UIM Coverage, then Stacking multiplies the coverage by 4 resulting in $1.2 million of UM/UIM Coverage.
Then, if you or a family member is injured by an Uninsured or Underinsured driver, you can make a claim for compensation up to the stacked coverage amount.
Benefits of Stacking
As you can see, Stacking offer essential benefits in both single vehicle and multi-vehicle policies. For these reason, I strongly encourage you to Stack UM/UIM Benefits. There is increased cost to do it by it’s well worth it!
Tim Rayne helps Car Accident Victims understand their legal rights and receive fair compensation from insurance companies. Contact Tim at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or check out his website at www.TimRayneLaw.com.