How Does Uninsured Motorist Coverage Work After a Birmingham Car Accident?

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage will pay for your losses after a car accident if the other driver doesn’t have insurance. Filing a UM claim is similar to filing a normal car accident claim, except your insurance company plays the role of the other driver’s insurance provider. 

Just because you’d be filing a UM claim with your own insurance company doesn’t mean they’ll treat you favorably. You need an experienced Alabama car accident lawyer from Wettermark Keith to make your UM claim as strong as possible. 

What is UM Coverage and How Does It Work?

Alabama uses a tort system for car accidents, which means that each driver must carry liability insurance to pay for injuries if they cause an accident. Despite the legal requirements, many people in Alabama drive without insurance. 

That’s where uninsured motorist (UM) coverage comes in. If a driver causes an accident with you and they don’t have insurance, your auto policy’s UM coverage will step in and pay for your losses. UM pays for your injuries when the other driver is uninsured or unknown, as is the case in a hit-and-run. 

Filing a UM claim is largely the same as filing a normal car accident claim. The main difference is that you are filing a claim with your own insurance company instead of the other driver’s insurer.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage vs. Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM)

Uninsured motorist coverage will step in and pay for your losses when the other driver doesn’t have insurance. But what about when the other driver has insurance, but the policy limits are insufficient to cover your losses? Alabama’s mandatory insurance minimums are relatively low, so a serious accident is likely to exhaust coverage.

In these cases, underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) can pay for the difference. UIM is a type of special coverage that kicks in if the other driver’s policy is not enough to pay for your injury-related losses. UM and UIM coverage have different purposes, but they are both meant to protect you from insurance difficulties after an accident. 

Is UM Coverage Mandatory in Birmingham?

UM coverage is not mandatory in Alabama. However, insurers are legally required to include UM and UIM coverage in default auto policies, and you must explicitly reject UM coverage in writing to not have it. In other words, unless you explicitly denied it, your standard auto liability policy should include equal amounts of UM coverage.  

Stacking UM Coverage in Alabama

A neat feature of Alabama’s insurance laws is that it can allow for UM/UIM stacking. This is when you combine multiple limits to maximize the amount you can make with a single claim. 

So if you have multiple vehicles insured under a single auto policy, you can stack those limits when making a single claim. For example, if you have three vehicles each with a UM limit of $100,000, you can file a single claim for up to $300,000 for a single accident. 

Alabama lets you stack limits from a single policy covering multiple vehicles and multiple policies from different insurance providers. Stacking is only allowed for named insured parties and can’t be used by drivers not named on the policy. 

Compensation I Can Recover in a UM Claim

The compensation you can recover in a UM claim is largely the same as you can get in a normal liability claim. Compensable losses may include the following:

• Emergency medical bills and the cost of future necessary medical treatment
• Specialist visits, corrective surgeries, prescription medication, and medical devices
• Income and employment compensation you missed out on due to work absences
• Differences in your pre- and post-injury expected lifetime earnings
• Cost of replacement household services (e.g., housekeeping)
• Miscellaneous injury-related expenses
• Pain and suffering and emotional distress
• Mental anguish from scarring and disfigurement

Our team at Wettermark Keith will perform a full audit of your expenses to calculate a demand figure sufficient to pay for your losses and provide financial stability during your recovery. 

How to File an Uninsured Motorist Claim in Alabama

Below is a quick guide on how to file a UM claim. If you have more questions, the team at Wettermark Keith can walk you through each step. 

• Gather evidence. As with any insurance claim, you first need to gather evidence. Take photos of the accident scene, get video recordings of the crash, and talk to eyewitnesses to get statements.
• See a doctor. You also need to get medical documentation of your injuries, including intake paperwork, lab reports, imaging results, and discharge materials. 
• Report the accident to your insurance. With a normal claim, you’d contact the other driver’s insurance. With a UM claim, you’d instead report the accident to your insurer with a request to use UM coverage. 
• Talk to a lawyer. You should also talk to a lawyer as soon as possible. A lawyer can gather additional evidence and represent you during settlement negotiations or formal litigation. 

Contact an Alabama Car Accident Lawyer from Wettermark Keith

Do you have any more questions about using uninsured motorist coverage after a car accident in Birmingham? If so, contact the team at Wettermark Keith to discuss your case. We have over 50 years of combined legal experience and have recovered over $1 billion for deserving clients. Call us today to schedule a free consultation.