What Does State Minimum Auto Insurance Mean in Indiana?

Why does the State of Indiana require that there be minimum insurance?  As your Indiana Serious personal Injury lawyer, we see firsthand the kinds of harm car accidents can cause.  It does not matter if the crash is a drunk driving accident or a highway accident. These harms, including brain injury, broken bones, spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis or amputation, can interfere with any Hoosiers ability to earn a living and enjoy their life.  So when a driver carries the minimum state limit of liability insurance coverage, that is all the insurance company will have to pay you even if your injuries cost you far more than the amount available.  The State minimum insurance amount in Indiana is $25,000.00.  If you are injured and your injuries require you to be in the hospital for a few days, your medical bills will get high quickly and $25,000.00 probably is not going to fairly compensate you.  What do you do then?  Well you can sue the other driver, but chances are that the other driver has state minimum limits because they have little in assets and the state minimum is all they can really afford.  Therefore, A judgment against that person does little good because there is little chance they will ever be able to fairly compensate you for their negligence.

Your best defense is buying three different kinds of insurance in addition to your liability coverage.  The first two are very similar and are called Uninsured Motorist coverage (UM) and then Underinsured motorist coverage (UIM). If the drunk driver, or any driver, has no insurance your claim will be against your own UM coverage.  If the other driver has state minimum coverage then your claim will be against your own UIM coverage because the State minimum coverage was not enough to cover all your losses.  I recommend you purchase as high a limit of UM/UIM coverage as you can afford.  After all, it may be the only insurance available if you have a serious personal injury or even a wrongful death.

The other type of insurance is medical payments insurance.  This insurance will pay your medical bills, up to the limit of coverage you purchase, for injuries sustained while a passenger in your car. It is a kind of health insurance. It comes in very handy when you have a high deductible on your regular health policy.  Med Pay Insurance is very affordable.  I recommend that you buy as much as you can, but at a minimum you should buy an amount equal to your deductable on your health insurance.  That way you will have little or nothing out of pocket if you are hurt in a crash or accident.