EXPECT MORE UNINSURED DRIVERS
The country lost a staggering 2.6 million jobs in 2008 and unemployment his a 16-year high of 7.2%. Texas Instruments just laid off 3,400 workers. The Austin-area has lost an estimated 28,700 tech jobs.. Many retailers and restaurants are closing, or at least cutting back hours.
What does this mean for the rest of us? Among other things, it means there will likely be a significant increase in the number of uninsured drivers on the road. Some Texas will have to choose between paying rent and buying car insurance. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, 15 - 20% of drivers were uninsured in 2008. Texas has about 16 million drivers, so that means about 3 million uninsured drivers were on the road. Those numbers are sure to go up has the economy struggles in 2009.
In 2005, the Texas legislature passed a law, called TexasSure to allow police agencies to verify insurance coverage through a state-wide database. It is paid for with a $1 fee added to vehicle registration renewals. However, the program was not implemented until 2008. While the program will catch some uninsured drivers and may discourage some folks from driving without insurance, it is not going to help the person who is involved in a wreck with an uninsured driver.
See more real stories of Texans involved in wrecks with uninsured drivers here.
Every driver in Texas should carry uninsured (also called UM) auto insurance coverage. UM coverage provides insurance benefits for injuries and vehicle damage when the other driver does not have insurance. There are essentially two conditions that trigger the right to make a UM claim.
First the other driver does not have liability insurance. Second, the uninsured driver is at fault. That could be in a typical wreck such as a rear-end or intersection collision, or it could be a wreck with a "hit and run" driver. There are additional "rules" when the wreck involves a "hit and run" driver. In those cases, there must be contact between the uninsured vehicle and another vehicle involved in the wreck--when the uninsured vehicle strikes your vehicle or when uninsured vehicle strikes another vehicle and causes that other vehicle to crash into you. UM coverage does not provide benefits when you hit a guardrail or tree while swerving to avoid a "phantom vehicle."
Many people are not aware of the legal requirements concerning UM coverage on a Texas auto insurance policy. Texas law mandates that every auto insurance policy must include UM coverage, unless the buyer specifically rejects that coverage in writing. Many insurance buyers are unaware that UM coverage eben exists, so they do not ask about it. Or the buyer just assumes it is always part of auto insurance coverage and therefore does not ask about obtaining that coverage.
In many instances, the insurance agent fails to discuss UM coverage with the buyer and/or fails to inform the buyer that he must reject that additional coverage (if he does not want it). In those instances when the agent fails to obtain a signed rejection, the insurance buyer must be provided that insurance coverage. That is true even if the buyer has not been paying the additional premium for UM coverage. If there is no signed rejection, the insurance company must provide the coverage.
Think about it. The odds that the other person in the wreck does not have insurance are at least 1 in 5. The additional protection for you and your family are well-worth the additional cost for UM coverage. An experienced injury attorney knows how to hold the insurance company's feet to the fire in those instances where they failed to obtain a signed rejection of UM coverage. But knowing about the importance of UM coverage should encourage every Texan to verify they do in fact have UM coverage before a wreck happens.
