Supplemental Underinsurance Motorists (SUM) Coverage

• It amazes me that, even today, a majority of our auto claims clients are not adequately protected when other drivers injure them. You are entitled to buy – usually for as little as $50 to $125 – a SUM endorsement which insures you against bodily injury the same as you insure others. It works like this. A drunk driver with a basic limits ($25/50,000) policy enters the intersection without stopping. You are side-impacted. Both you and your wife suffer serious fractures which permanently disable you. Fortunately, you have just opted for $300,000/500,000 SUM coverage matching the liability coverage you purchased for the car this year. Instead of recovering $25,000 each, together you recover a total of $500,000 from the two insurance carriers, avoiding financial ruin. You may think that this sounds unlikely, but it happens every day.

• Make sure your bodily injury (BI) limits are reasonably high enough to cover foreseeable claims and protect your assets. Then, make sure the broker matches SUM coverage to your BI limits. In the past two years, we have seen four $300,000 value injuries where the victim had liability limits this high, but only $25,000 or $50,000 in SUM coverage. In each case, the broker or agent said, “Well, that’s what they asked for”. Make sure your broker advises you on the SUM options available to you and the additional costs.

Return to Calling Page