What Is UM and SUM Coverage?

It can be very confusing what coverage you need when buying car insurance. If you or a family member is a victim of an accident involving an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle, UM and SUM coverage are very important.

The personal injury attorneys at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP want to help you understand UM and SUM coverage.

UM Insurance Coverage

UM coverage stands for Uninsured Motorist coverage. UM coverage is a portion of your motor vehicle insurance policy that protects you or a loved one if involved in an accident with an uninsured motor vehicle (i.e., no liability coverage).

A motor vehicle can be uninsured for many reasons. For example, the insurance policy of the other vehicle was canceled prior to the date of the accident. Or the other vehicle was stolen. Or it was a hit-and-run accident and the other driver and owner were not identified.

Studies have shown that as many as 15 percent of New York drivers are driving uninsured vehicles. Adequate UM coverage is very important.

SUM Insurance Coverage

SUM coverage stands for Supplemental Uninsured Motorist coverage. SUM coverage protects you and your family if the offending vehicle is insured but has too little liability coverage to fairly compensate you for your injuries (i.e., the vehicle is underinsured).

Your own SUM coverage will provide additional coverage to supplement your recovery from the underinsured vehicle. While you could attempt to go after the assets of the responsible driver and owner, this is a long process and quite often does not result in an additional recovery. Rather than have your recovery limited to the insurance coverage of the offending car, which could be a minimum policy, you can protect you and your family members by purchasing adequate SUM coverage.

The insurance premium to increase your UM and SUM coverage is not significant! In fact, in New York, there is now a requirement that the UM and SUM portion of your policy (which protects you) must equal your liability coverage (which protects others), unless you choose to opt out.

Reviewing Your Auto Insurance Policy

We encourage our clients to review their insurance policy to make sure they have adequate UM/SUM coverage. The UM & SUM personal injury attorneys at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP are happy to review your policy to make sure you have adequate UM & SUM coverage.

If you or a loved one was the victim of a victim of an accident involving an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle, the UM & SUM personal injury attorneys at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP are here to help.

Contact a Car Accident Attorney in NY

The car accident attorneys at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP are skilled at handling an UM & SUM claims. Our firm’s motto is “Don’t Be A Victim Twice.” If you are a victim of an accident involving an uninsured or underinsured car, call 1-800-VICTIM2 (1-800-842-8462) to schedule a confidential consultation. The call is free. The consultation is free. You don’t pay us unless we are successful.

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