In addition to liability coverage, Colorado law requires that insurance carriers offer Uninsured Motorist insurance, often referred to as UIM or UM coverage. It is up to the insured party to either accept or reject UIM coverage. However, a lot of drivers are not familiar with this coverage, and do not understand how important it is to have.

UIM coverage is additional insurance from your carrier that provides benefits if you are in an auto collision caused by another driver, and that driver either does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance to fully cover your damages. In Colorado, the minimum liability coverage is $25,000.00. Many drivers carry policies with state minimum coverage because they cannot afford additional coverage. If one of these drivers were to cause a collision with you, any damages over the policy limits would have to be recovered directly from the driver. Realistically, recovering additional damages from an at-fault driver very rarely is even possible. The result would mean that you would likely have to pay these additional expenses out of your own pocket.

This is where UIM coverage is key. Once the at-fault driver’s policy limits have been reached, UIM coverage will take over and continue to pay your damages until either you have been fully compensated, or until you reach your own UIM policy limits. UIM policies generally carry coverage equal to the liability limits of the same policy. The state minimum coverage is $25,000.00 per person and $50,000.00 per incident. UIM coverage also protects you in cases where the at-fault driver has failed to obtain insurance at all, or in unique cases where the other vehicle’s normal coverage would not apply such as a hit-and-run or a […]