What is full coverage insurance in Maryland?
You might have heard the term “full coverage,” but what does that actually mean?
Full coverage car insurance typically refers to an insurance policy that covers injuries and property damage to others (liability coverage), and damage to your own vehicle (collision and comprehensive coverages). Here is a breakdown of the types of coverage that are usually considered part of full coverage insurance:
Bodily injury liability coverage: This coverage pays for injuries or death that you may cause to another person while driving.
Property damage liability coverage: This coverage pays for damages to another person’s property that you may cause while driving.
Collision coverage: This coverage pays for damages to your own vehicle if you are involved in an accident with another vehicle or object.
Comprehensive coverage: This coverage pays for damages to your vehicle from non-collision events, such as theft, vandalism, or natural disasters.
Full coverage is not enough!
You cannot assume that having “full coverage” means that you are protected in the event of an injury crash.
For example, full coverage does not necessarily mean that your policy uninsured/underinsured coverage! This means that if someone hits you without insurance, or without enough insurance to cover your injuries, you may not be able to recover.
Uninsured/underinsured coverage is the solution. Thankfully, Maryland requires that every policy include at least $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident in UI/UIM coverage – but this is unfortunately not enough after a serious crash.
You should consider getting more than the minimum. It often only costs a few dollars extra per month to TRIPLE your coverage. This means that if you are in a crash, and the other driver is uninsured or doesn’t have enough liability coverage, you will be able to recover for more of your medical bills, pain and suffering, and other losses.
This could mean the difference between recovering $30,000 for your injuries and $100,000 or more, depending on how much coverage you get.
As a Maryland personal injury attorney, I’ve seen what happens when clients do not have enough UI/UIM coverage. They are forced to accept far less for their case than what it would otherwise be worth if they had only spent a few extra dollars per month.
The bottom line is, you are putting yourself and your family at risk by not getting enough UI/UIM coverage.