THE FACTS:
  • You live in Pennsylvania with your wife and son;
  • You own three vehicles;
  • You insure all three vehicles with the same insurance company;
  • Your son is involved in an accident in which the other driver ran a red light hitting your son’s vehicle;
  • Your son suffers significant injuries;
  • The other driver does not have any insurance;
  • Your policy has uninsured motorist benefits of $100,000.00.
THE RESULT:
  • The driver who caused the accident did not insure his vehicle and has no assets;
  • In Pennsylvania, uninsured motorist (UM) coverage must be offered with all policies;
  • If you did not want this coverage you must specifically reject such coverage;
  • You selected UM coverage of $100,000.00;
  • You also had the option to stack this coverage;
  • Stacking is the cumulation of coverages in order to create a greater pool of benefits for recovery;
  • This means with three cars if you stacked coverage you have $300,000.00 of available coverage;
  • If you did not specifically reject stacking you are automatically given stacking.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
  • The coverage you select is critically important.