Welcome

United States District Court | Eastern District of Washington

Ask an Attorney a Question for FREE!

Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury or UMBI

It will cover your medical bills and your pain and suffering

Under/Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury (UMBI) main features:

First Party Coverage but acts as third party coverage
Fault based
No Deductible Applies
Limits on amount of coverage

Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury Coverage is similar to UMPD (Uninsured Motorist Property Damage), but instead looking for property damage payments, you will be looking for payments for injuries incurred.

Note that these two coverages are sold together, so if you have one, then you have the other.

Your medical payment coverage or PIP will cover your medical expenses up to the amount of the limit that you purchased.

Everything above and beyond that will be covered under the Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury portion.

It is important to mention that everyone in the vehicle is entitled to this coverage (driver and passengers) and that the limits will apply individually (they will not be added together) unless otherwise noted in the policy.

When I discussed Medical Payments and Personal Injury Protection, I explained that insurance carriers would be excluding general damages (pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, loss of consortium, etc.).

Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury will provide payment for these damages or will compensate you for them.

Usually the limits under the Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury portion are much higher, anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000, as compared to your Medical Payments and/or PIP limits of $5,000 to $10,000.

Your insurance carrier will have to determine who is at fault, and whether or not the other party had an active liability policy. This can take time, depending of how difficult the accident is and how many parties are involved.

Also, remember this is not an all or nothing type of claim.

For example, in an accident where there are three parties involved: A, B and C. Let us assume A is not at fault, but B and C are at fault 50% each.

Let us further assume that B has insurance but C does not. B and C each owe 50% of all damages.

B would have to pay 50% of all damages to A. C does not have insurance, so A’s UMBI policy coverage would have to cover the remaining 50%.

Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury Coverage will put you in the position of a third party claimant, yet reserving your rights as an insured (first party).

You will have the option to file a bad faith lawsuit if the insurance company does not treat you the way they were supposed to.

Medical Payments and Personal Injury Protection are very restrictive coverages. These restrictions are lifted once you have a UMBI claim.

You still have to document your claim and allow the carrier to look into your medical history to move forward.

Because the insurance companies are paying you what the responsible party owes you, they will have to pay for lost wages, including the time going to and from the doctors, and mileage (about 44 cents per mile) will also be included.

THIS IS ONLY IF YOU ASK! Many adjusters will “forget” to include it on your settlement.
Remember, once you settle the game is over. So ASK!

My view is that if they are going to nickel and dime you, then you should nickel and dime them also.

I have discussed how in Montana and in Arizona you could recover two times or three times the amount of your medical bills.

When you have an UMBI claim, your own insurance company will have to pay the bills twice, the first time to your doctor (if the doctor has not been paid by your health insurance), and a second time to you.