But UIM covers other parts of the claim, including pain and suffering and lost wages.

That was one of the items I was encouraged to get when I moved to Northern Virginia from Cincinnati and had to insure my car here. I agree with others that you should keep it and perhaps talk to another agent. That doesn’t sound right to me.

I always buy UM/UIM equal to my liability limits. Perhaps GEICO meant PIP, personal injury protection, which pays medical bills up to a stated amount, regardless of fault. That coverage part could be perceived as duplicating your personal health insurance.

Read on your State's department of insurance website an explanation of UM/UIM, as well as PIP and any other coverages of which you may not be familiar and make an informed decision.

That's terrible advice. If an agent told you that I would start shopping for another.

Here in Colorado I have 250K UM/UIM coverage. Plus my Umbrella policy here has 1 mill more as excess coverage. So if an uninsured drunk runs a stop light and t-bones me I have 1.25 mill in coverage. And there is another 250K for passengers. And many drive with minimum limits, that's where the underinsured coverage kicks in.

It covers stuff just like a liability policy, pain and suffering, scarring, etc. Not just med bills.

I don't know your state but if you have an Umbrella policy(highly recommended) check and see if it covers UM/UIM. That's another reason to get coverage. the UMB coverage would only kick in if you have the underlying coverage.

Sure, medical insurance pays for medical bills, but UM covers so much more. Pain, suffering, loss of wages, loss of companionship, etc.

You are also protecting your other passengers regardless of their insurance status.

Get a new agent.

Many would be surprised that their umbrellas excludes UM/UIM. Many carriers experienced significant losses with this so they offer umbrellas without UM/UIM. Have to request it for most carriers. Including the coverage may double the price, but it is well worth it since there is a higher probability (depending on where you live) that people are driving around with state minimum limits or no insurance at all.

Too long to type on a smart device but get the coverage for the extra $.07

I was seriously injured in a car accident. Oh, yeah and my car was totaled.

My lawyer collected the max of her policy ($100k) and then, because he figured out my injuries exceeded that, he went after my own uninsured/underinsured insurance and collected an additional $33k. So I'd recommend that you get it.

Also, don't forget that even if you have great insurance you'll pay the deductible and out of pocket portions until you reach your max (if you do have a max amount/yr).

Q

With the caveat that I don't know the law of your state or the specific insurance coverage you've been offered, as a general matter uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage applies to much more than medical bills, and allows you to recover from your own insurer what you could recover from the at fault driver if he had sufficient assets or insurance. It applies to lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.

your private insurance is entitled to dollar to dollar reimbursement from your plaintiff settlement/judgment. Medicals can easily reach significant 5 figures or more. I’d buy the coverage .

While dropping the uninsured motorist (bodily injury) may save you some premium money, if you’re ever in a serious accident it may be extremely helpful. Yes, medical insurance pays medical bills, but there are other things it may not.

This is just a general opinion, not legal advice.

the other driver was eventually apprehended and only had $25k in insurance...the fact that I had that policy meant that all the bills were paid for.

We eventually got the full $25k out of his insurance and Progressive also paid $ towards the settlement as well.

I'd think really hard about giving up this provision in your insurance

and is in your car. Then you get into at fault and then it could get ugly. That's how it was explained to me in the past.