In Wisconsin, we have a 14.3% uninsured motorist rate, according to the Insurance Information Institute. That means that for every one hundred drivers out there on the road, about fourteen of them are not carrying any insurance. This does not include those who carry the minimum standard insurance, “underinsured” motorists. In Wisconsin, we carry some uninsured motorist insurance by default, but no underinsured insurance. Our uninsured motorist rate falls within the national average of 10% to 15%, so to many drivers, it’s not that big a deal. If there’s a nearly 86% chance that the next auto accident you are in will be covered by the other person’s insurance, you may be happy with the minimum mandatory protection against that threat. However, this number is about to spike.
Updating the Information
Right now, everything is changing. In fact, the change is so constant that we’re pretty much used to it, and we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves if we didn’t have a day off, if we went twenty-four hours without being told a few new rules we need to consider. These changes are affecting every area of life, from jobs and health to traffic.
We’re hitting record low numbers for drivers on the road, which has resulted in lower accident rates. As stressful as some of these changes can be, this goes to show that there is always a silver lining. It’d be nice if it didn’t take a severe downturn in the economy to clear the roads of accidents, but a low number of traffic accidents is worth acknowledging.
Because of this, many insurers are offering refunds on premiums for months where they weren’t doing much driving, if they even left the house in the first place. There isn’t really any downside to this, but insurers are also offering deferred billing, which has its upsides and its downsides.
The upsides are obvious: If you’re feeling the crunch in these trying times, you can put those bills off without fear of cancellation or late fees for the time being.
The downsides: Not everyone is going to be able to afford those accumulated bills when they’re finally due. You can plan ahead and reduce your coverage for the time being to lower the total cost, but many drivers won’t do that. Many drivers will simply cancel their insurance once they see the bill.
This means that Wisconsin’s uninsured motorist rate isn’t going to stay under 15% for very much longer.
Adequate Protection
The whole point of insurance is to protect ourselves against known hazards. The tricky thing about knowledge, it changes every day. Knowing what we now know about the coming spike in uninsured and underinsured drivers, it stands to reason that what we thought was enough protection a week ago likely won’t be a week from now.
All of this constant change can be a little tiring at times, but we’ve got to keep up. If you feel that your current policy does not give you enough coverage against uninsured and underinsured drivers, then you may want to consider expanding your coverage so that you are not left holding the repair bill if you are involved in an accident with somebody who cannot cover you with their own insurance.
If you’re looking to expand your coverage or you just have some questions you’d like answered, get in touch with us at Gutman Insurance, and let’s see what we can do for you.
