Accident with injury

With the tough economy, more and more Ohio drivers are looking to cut the cost of their auto insurance. While many have reduced coverage, unfortunately for many others, they can no longer afford to even pay the premiums.

This means the odds of being involved in an accident with an uninsured driver in Ohio is on the rise. According to a study from the Insurance Research Council, approximately one in six drivers in the United States are driving with no auto insurance. Ohio ranked as the 11th highest state in estimated percentage of uninsured drivers, coming in at 16%. This study was completed in 2007, which more than likely means the actual percentage is much higher. The IRC report also found that as the unemployment rises so does the number of uninsured drivers.

What’s a person to do? If you are looking to cut your auto insurance costs, consider raising your collison deductibles first. Second, look at the value of the vehicles you carry collision coverage on. If the value is $ 3,000.00 or less, strongly consider dropping comprehensive and collsion coverage all together. If you can’t cut there, look to see if you carry rental car coverage and towing. If you do, it would be much better to eliminate “convenience coverages” like these rather than to lower your liability and uninsured motorist coverage.

Finally, the last place to cut costs is your liability, medical payments and uninsured motorists coverages. We do not recommend lowering any of these coverages, however, if you do have health insurance through your employer, the first cost you could trim is your medical payments coverage.

You must carry liability insurance in Ohio to be legal to drive. Failure to do so will result in a license suspension and fines if the State of Ohio catches you. The minimum limits of coverage for bodily injury to others is $ 12,500 per person, $ 25,000 per accident and for property damage it is $ 7,500. While we do not recommend limits this low, it is much better than dropping your coverage. If you are a homeowner or have assets to protect, the minimum limits we recommend you carry for bodily injury liability is $ 250,000 per person, $ 500,00 per accident and $ 100,000 of property damage liability.

Your limit of uninsured motorists coverage matches your limit of liability protection, unless you requested a lower limit. In Ohio you are not required to carry uninsured motorists coverage to be legal to drive. However, dropping this coverage is a horrible idea, especially given the dramatic rise in uninsured drivers in Ohio.