Most every auto insurance company offers uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) coverage. This is for those times when a person hits you and they don’t have insurance or they have too little coverage.
Kentucky law requires each driver to have a minimum of $25,000 bodily injury per person and $50,000 maximum for a single accident. They also require each person to have UM, but this can be purposefully waived by the driver. This means that in Kentucky, most drivers carry UM/UIM (they are almost always sold together).
Cyclists and UM/UIM
Ok, so how does that affect a cyclist? When a cyclist gets hit by the driver of a motor vehicle, that driver’s insurance will pay for the damages. But what if the driver isn’t insured? Then the cyclist can access their own auto insurance policy—if they have one—and their UM/UIM will cover their damages. This may sound a bit strange, but if you have an auto insurance policy, its coverage is potentially triggered when you are in any auto accident, and the UM/UIM kicks in when there is no other coverage or there isn’t enough.
Types of Damages that Trigger UM/UIM
Anytime a cyclist that has their own auto insurance policy with UM/UIM gets in an auto accident, and the driver has no insurance or has too little insurance, then the cyclist’s injuries and damages will be covered. Some of these that happen to Louisville cyclists are:
- Medical Bills: Medical bills can quickly climb when someone is injured especially if they end up staying in the hospital.
- Pain and Suffering: Even though pain and suffering doesn’t have a direct cost like a medical bill, the law allows a jury to put a value on the pain a person experiences because of someone else’s negligence.
- Missed Wages: If an accident by an uninsured driver causes you to miss wages, then your UM/UIM will pay for those.
- Permanent Disability: Any long-term or permanent disability can be paid by a cyclists UM/UIM policy.
- Policy Problems: This isn’t a specific type if damage, but sometimes UM/UIM is triggered by the at-fault driver’s insurance having lapsed. Without UM/UIM, a cyclist would have to pay their own damages if a lapse happened.
Do I need an Attorney?
If you were cycling and were injured by a motor vehicle driver’s negligence you owe it to yourself to talk to a Louisville Bicycle Accident Attorney that knows insurance law and can evaluate your specific case. Don’t talk to the insurance company or their lawyers until you have spoken to an attorney as anything you say will be used by them to reduce their liability.
Call the attorneys at Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, at 800 937-8443, for your free consultation and case evaluation. If you call, you will immediately speak to a member of the legal team and not a message machine.
