How much uninsured motorist coverage do I need

San Mateo County Personal Injury Attorney Reuben Donig: So, to some extent, the answer varies with the person. A person who’s a high-income earner will suffer more, at least income loss, if they’re injured, than somebody who’s a low-income earner, and therefore would need more insurance to compensate or make them whole. Having said that, I mean, we all know that the dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to. I think that anybody who is going to have uninsured motorist coverage, and I think everybody should have it, should try to have a minimum of $250,000 worth of uninsured motorist coverage. I used to tell people to get at least $100,000, but I don’t think $100,000 is very good anymore. Please get at least $250,000 worth of this coverage for yourself, and if you can afford to get more, then by all means get more.

I just settled a case for a woman who was hit by a driver who had a $15,000 policy, a wonderful older woman, 71 years old. She was walking across the street. It was entirely his fault. He only had $15,000 of insurance. She was in the hospital for weeks with many broken bones and surgeries. Fortunately, she had a $500,000 uninsured motorist policy, and I was able to get her the other $485,000 to bring her total up to the full $500,000 from her own policy. If she’d only had $100,000 or even $250,000 of uninsured motorist coverage that would have been the limit that she could of received. I think with the $500,000 recovery, she did pretty well.

(Attorney Reuben Donig specializes in personal injury law and premises liability, including auto and car accidents in San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Alameda County and San Francisco County. Visit him at www.doniglaw.com if you have a question you’d like to ask).