We’re all feeling the crunch. The economic concerns our country faces have had a surprising ripple effect, and we’re seeing the long term impact in several unexpected areas of life. For instance: Auto insurance.
Good News, Bad News
The good news is that many companies are easing the financial burden on their customers, offering refunds, bonuses, deferred billing, and other incentives for continued loyalty through tough times. The bad news is that even those gestures, well-intentioned as they may be, can have a domino effect which makes life harder in some ways.
For example: Many insurance companies are trying to help their customers out by offering refunds on premiums, owing to fewer drivers being out on the road lately. We can generally file that under “good news.” If you barely drove last month, it’s only fair that you shouldn’t have to pay your full premium. Insurance companies are also offering deferred billing, which is great in theory, but… Those premiums need to be paid some day, and when that happens, you’re going to have a lot of drivers on the road who have to make a choice: Pay the bill or reduce their coverage. Many of them may even drop their coverage entirely.
Staying Insured Against the Uninsured
What we’re looking at is a significant statistical spike in uninsured and underinsured motorists. Even the most conservative estimates are going to see the number of people driving without insurance ballooning sometime soon. In cities like River Falls in Wisconsin, the Insurance Information Institute tells us that somewhere around 14.3% of drivers are uninsured, according to data from 2015. Not quite in the top ten worst states for uninsured drivers, but close to it, with D.C. ranking in the tenth spot at 15.6%. At 14.3%, that means that if you are in an accident, there is a one in seven chance that the other party will be uninsured.
It is difficult to give a fair estimate of what that number will look like by the time those deferred bills need to be paid because we’re still not sure how long the current situation will continue, or how long economic recovery is going to take.
Ideally, we can say, “well, that’s their problem,” but if you don’t have uninsured motorist insurance, and someone without coverage runs into you, this makes it your problem, too.
If you do not have adequate uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage, you can’t say that you are fully protected. Get in touch with Reis Insurance by phone or through the website and see what the agency can do for you.