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Financial tips and money-saving advice from USU Credit Union

Are Insurance Minimums Enough To Protect You In The Event Of An Accident?

February 26, 2021

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Auto insurance is required in the state of Utah, but how much do you actually need? Ensuring proper coverage while saving on your premium can be a balancing act. Choosing to go with the minimum coverage required can be very risky and end up costing you more in the event of an accident.

To understand how much insurance coverage you need, let’s jump into a little bit of what coverages actually mean. In Utah, liability coverage is all that is required by law. Liability coverage is often abbreviated as three numbers separated by slashes. For example, you might see Utah’s minimum requirement written as 25/65/15. This would signify up to $25,000 for one person’s injuries, $65,000 for all injured parties in an accident, and $15,000 for property damage.

Since bodily injury and medical bills can be the most expensive, especially if there are multiple people injured, you’ll want to choose a coverage that at least matches your net worth for the middle number. Randy Ferlin, Assistant Vice President, Personal Lines Insurance at Goldenwest Insurance Services, often advises members to look beyond their car value and what they might expect medical bills to be. “If you were at a stoplight today and something happened that caused you to roll into the middle of an intersection, causing a crash and someone died or became permanently disabled, what could you be sued for? Think: savings accounts, equity in home, 401K, and other assets. When picking a minimum coverage, we should really be picking something that protects those assets.” Furthermore, when looking at Utah’s minimum requirement, you might notice that $15,000 could be very low in order to cover the cost of a new vehicle.

As you can see, choosing to go with the minimum required coverage can very easily come back to cost you in the event of an accident. Minimum coverage can be quickly maxed out, and liability coverage will not protect your own vehicle. A few other coverages that could prove valuable in the event of an accident include: comprehensive, collision, rental car reimbursement, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

Goldenwest Insurance Services offers fully customizable coverages along with incredible discounts for being a member of the credit union. To find out if you are properly insured, visit a Goldenwest Insurance Services expert today.

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