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Originally Posted by retiredguy123
Last year, my Allstate auto insurance increased by 32 percent with no claims. So, I switched to State Farm and my premium dropped to less than half of the Allstate premium. Go figure. I have very high liability limits on my auto and homeowners insurance. Some insurance companies will not even sell you more than $250K in liability coverage without buying an umbrella policy. Other companies will sell you up to a million. If your liability limit is too low, your insurance company will not even defend you in court. They will just pay off the limit and leave you to defend yourself.
Note that Florida is a state that does not require uninsured motorist insurance. I know that some people will disagree, but I have zero uninsured motorist insurance. It provides no additional liability protection for you, and it is basically redundant with your health insurance. In fact, if you have an accident with uninsured motorist insurance, Medicare and other health insurance become secondary, and they will not pay your health claims until the auto policy pays off. In my opinion, that is one way to save money on auto insurance.
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No, Uninsured and Underinsured coverage are not primary medical coverage versus Medicare.
Florida requires all drivers to purchase Personal Injury Protection coverage. This is coverage that pays for all medical bills incurred by an insured that resulted from an auto accident. You must purchase 10K in PIP coverage. The basic PIP package also provides coverage for wage losses. So if you aren't employed, be sure to get the PIP coverage that doesn't include wage loss coverage. PIP is primary medical coverage versus Medicare.
UM/UIM coverage coverage covers much more than medical bills. It provides coverage for any thing an uninsured or underinsured motorist is liable for. Could be lost wages, wrongful death, pain and suffering etc. It's not a first party medical coverage and Medicare has no rights to any monetary reimbursement under those coverages and Medicare can't withold payment if you have UM/UIM coverage.
UM/UIM coverage isn't intended to provide insured's with "additional liability" coverage. It's sole purpose is to protect insureds from loss caused by uninsured and underinsured motorists.
No insurance company "will just pay off the limits" and let you defend yourself. No insurance carrier pays off the limits without getting a release for the insured. So no release, no money.
Good luck when you get in a serious accident with an uninsured/underinsured motorist. Plenty of posts here about the 91 year old Mercedes female hit and run driver who hit the woman on a bike. Lifetime of disability issues and pain and suffering. UIM coverage would pay for all of that, without that coverage, you get nothing! But on the bright you saved a couple of bucks!