If you were driving a motor vehicle, were hit by another car, and the other vehicle is at fault, the first insurance coverage that you are going to investigate to hold responsible for the accident is insurance covering the vehicle that was at fault – meaning, does the owner of the vehicle have a liability policy. In addition to the owner’s liability coverage, you can look at liability coverage for the driver of the at-fault vehicle. If neither have this coverage, you will have to look for an uninsured motorist policy.
Uninsured coverage means just as it sounds, coverage protecting you when an at-fault vehicle has no insurance. The first policy you will look for is your own – do you carry an uninsured motorist policy on a vehicle you own, not necessarily the vehicle you drove during the accident.
The second policy is an Uninsured motorist policy for the vehicle you were in during the accident and the third policy is uninsured motorist policy held by someone you are related to by blood or marriage. You can use any one of those policies or all three of them as long as they are on separate policies.
Separate policies mean that if you own two vehicles, the one you are driving and the one that is home; or your policy and your father’s policy, those vehicles must be insured under separate policies. If both are listed under one policy, you cannot use both, only one on that policy.
Lastly, you should be aware that uninsured motorist coverage also stands for underinsured motorist coverage. That means that if you are using one or both of the policies discussed above, and their insurance policy is not enough to cover your damages, you can add on top of that policy your underinsured motorist coverage. This can be either your policy on your vehicle, the vehicle you are in, or a family member’s (related to by blood or marriage) policy.
