Do you own a car? Do you know how much Supplemental Uninsured Motorist (or SUM) coverage is on that vehicle? If you own a car and don’t know how much SUM coverage is on that car, or if your SUM coverage is too low, you should consider making an investment in more SUM.
Bodily Injury (B/I) protection provides for insurance coverage when someone else is injured by your vehicle in a car accident. If the injured person can prove their injuries, they can recover against your B/I policy. Most people have adequate B/I coverage, but often fail to have adequate SUM coverage. Supplemental Uninsured Motorist (or SUM) insurance provides coverage to compensate YOU for injuries you sustain in an accident when the OTHER car involved has either no insurance or inadequate insurance.
For example, if you are in an accident with a car that has the minimum amount of insurance allowed by New York law ($25,000/$50,000*), you will only be able to recover a maximum of $25,000 in a lawsuit against that other vehicle UNLESS you have more than $25,000/$50,000 in bodily injury coverage AND more than $25,000/$50,000 in SUM coverage (under New York law, MINIMUM SUM coverage is $25,000/$50,000).
Check your policy today and, if you have inadequate SUM coverage, consider calling your insurance broker and buy more so YOU can be PROPERLY covered. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
If you have any questions about SUM or other automobile accident and insurance related questions, please don’t hesitate to call me at (212) 949-8080.
*This means that in a given accident, the most that each injured person can recover is $25,000 and the most that can be recovered in total, no matter how many people are injured, is $50,000. e.g., if 2 people are injured, they can each recover AT MOST $25,000 each. If three people are injured, the most any ONE can recover is $25,000, but only $50,000 can be recovered in total.