Protecting Your Teen Driver, and Your Family.

Now that summer is here and school is out, the number of cars on our roadways that are piloted by lesser experienced drivers will once again increase.  This doesn’t mean that a young driver is poor driver.  What does prove accurate is that there is a statistically higher chance of a younger driver having an accident.

In Minnesota, your auto insurance requires you to carry "Uninsured Motorist" and "Underinsured Motorist" coverage, but the amount of coverage you select is up to you.  So why should any of this matter to YOU or ME?    This is extremely important coverage because the coverage you select follows YOUR family members when they are passengers in OTHER people’s automobiles.

In my case, I am 41, married and 3 kids.  WHAT IF a 17 year old has a car with 3 passengers coming back from a day at the beach, all jamming to Lady GaGa.  They miss the stop sign and T-bone my minivan with all 5 of my family in the van.  Well, most would answer that this is a terrible tragedy to my family. I agree.  What most people will never think about are the 3 passengers in the OTHER car. 

Let’s say YOUR daughter is a passenger in the teen car singing along to Lady Gaga in the back seat.  All 3 people in that car suffer major injuries. 

Now let’s believe the owner of the car has $100,000/$300,000 in coverage.   That’s a maximum of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.   Guess what?  In this accident we have the entire 5 passengers in the minivan (my family) and the 3 passengers (including your daughter) in the teen driven car.  A total of $300,000 is available for the lawsuits that may (will) ensue.  This is no-where near enough coverage for what has just happened.  For your family, your  “UNDERINSURED” coverage will pick up and insure your daughter for her injuries.  If you carry $50,000 per person your insurance would pay an additional amount up to $50,000.  If you carry $250,000 you have a much bigger pool of money to pursue.  I personally have $1,500,000 of Underinsured Motorist coverage for my family. 

Let’s revisit this again.  MY family was hit and the other driver was at fault.  All 5 of us are in the car and may be injured.  I do not need to worry about HOW much coverage the other driver has.  At 1.5 Million I have REALLY good coverage on my family in the form of “Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist” coverage.  Similarly, when my family members are passengers in another person’s car or truck I am comforted knowing that if an accident happens we will have excellent coverage. 

The premium difference is often times not that significant; perhaps an increase of $26 - $100 a year per vehicle.  The best way to find out is to call your agent and ask about the liability coverage and Uninsured Underinsured coverage amount you carry. Emergency planning can help protect your family when the unexpected happens.