Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Video Transcript:

Cindy Speaker: What is uninsured motorist coverage?  That’s our topic for this episode of Main Street Law.  I’m Cindy Speaker and my guest today is South Carolina personal injury attorney, George Sink of George Sink Injury Lawyers.  George, how are you today?

George Sink: I’m terrific.  How are you, Cindy?

Cindy Speaker: I’m good, thank you.  George, let’s jump right in here.  What is uninsured motorist coverage?

George Sink: Uninsured motorist coverage is a way of recovering when you’ve been injured by someone who cause an accident and damage to you while they were uninsured.

Cindy Speaker: Now, does everyone have that type of coverage, is it mandated by the state?

George Sink: Yes, it is!  But the funny thing is, you really don’t have a claim unless you go through some sort of ritual, but it is mandatory by the state to have this and it’s wonderful to have a lot of it.

Cindy Speaker: So does that mean that you recommend carrying more uninsured motorist coverage than what the state requires?

George Sink: Absolutely, it’s very cheap and it helps you, so often times, what you really need is a lot of it to protect you from someone who has injured you who doesn’t have enough.

Cindy Speaker: And in South Carolina, what would that recommendation be?

George Sink: As much as your company will allow, every company is different.  I have a million dollars on mine.

Cindy Speaker: And that’s affordable?

George Sink: Yes, it’s the cheapest you can buy and it helps you.

Cindy Speaker: What if the driver is a victim of a hit and run accident?  Would he use uninsured motorist coverage in that situation?

George Sink: Absolutely!  It’s just what’s involved in that.  The funny thing is, it’s complicated.  The statute says, basically you don’t have an uninsured claim unless you do three things and you have to read the statute carefully, but you have to report it to the police authority promptly, so it has to be reported to the police and you have to have physical contact with the other person or a witness and the witness is a very special sort of person and I don’t have time to go into it, but it’s complicated.  And you have to get an affidavit that’s filled out in a certain way and the third part of it is, you can’t be negligent in determining the identity of the person.

So if you’re in a collision, you feel okay and you let him go, you’re not going to have an uninsured motorist claim because you were negligent in not getting their name and identity so we can recover from them.

Cindy Speaker: That makes sense.  One final thing, George.  What recommendation do you have to someone who after listening to this wants to reevaluate the matter if they’re uninsured motorist coverage?

George Sink: I would get as much of this as possible and the reason is simple, it helps you.  If someone hurts you, they don’t have enough money to pay for the damage to you, this will pay for it.  Nothing could be better for you than to do this and it is cheap!  So Cindy, I couldn’t recommend this any more than I am right now, buy it, buy as much as you can!

Cindy Speaker: I think I’ll be calling my insurance company later today.  George, if somebody wants to get in touch with you, how can they do that?

George Sink: They can call 1-800—849-SINK or they can go to the website which is www.sinklaw.com.

Cindy Speaker: Thank you, George.  Until next time, this is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.