Car Insurance Claims El Monte California CA

Reader’s Question:

I learned that my son was recently involved in a car accident. It was his fault and he even totaled his vehicle. To make things even worse, we just learned that his auto insurance policy was cancelled prior to the incident. Now what worries us, does he need to pay for the damages incurred from that accident from his own pockets? Or does the other party’s underinsured motorist coverage pays for that?

Edith

El Monte, CA

I’m sorry to hear. I hope your son will be ok soon.

There are two kinds of underinsured motorist coverage (UMC) - uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) and uninsured motorist bodily injury (UMBI). The UMPD pays for the damages on your vehicle in an event that you have an accident with a person who doesn’t have auto insurance policy. Meanwhile, UMBI pays for the bodily injuries incurred for you or passengers in your vehicle when you have an accident with an uninsured driver.

As to your question, that really depends if the other driver involved in the accident has underinsured motorist coverage. As you see, in the state of California, this kind of policy is not required. Hence, not all Californian residents have this policy since this is only optional. If a Californian resident declines to purchase this, she/he must need to sign waiver. However, given that the other party has this policy, it still depends though if s/he files the claim from his own auto insurance company or ask your son to pay for the damage. I would suggest you contact the other party to be ready for any compensation they might ask from your son.

Tags: auto insurance, car insurance claims, car insurance tips