Uninsured Motorist Stacking Bill – Important To Georgia Serious Injury Victims

Senate Bill 276, a very important bill for all Georgia citizens who may become involved in serious injury motor vehicle accidents, is awaiting action by the House Rules Committee at the State Capital. This bill would drastically improve uninsured motorist coverage in Georgia. Under current law, a consumer who is has uninsured motorist (UM) coverage can only access part of their total limit if they are hit by a driver with a small amount of liability insurance coverage. SB 276 would allow consumers to “stack” their UM coverage on top of the at-fault driver’s liability insurance, if necessary, to cover a large claim.
For example, Charlie Consumer decides to include $100,000 of UM coverage with his auto insurance policy. The coverage is supposed to pay out claims when he is hit by a driver with no insurance (uninsured), or by a driver who has a level of insurance that is less than the total of his claim (underinsured). On his way home from work, Charlie is hit by Elsie Underinsured, who ran a red light and only has $25,000 in liability insurance. Charlie is seriously hurt and has medical bills totaling $125,000. He figures that Elsie’s $25,000 in liability coverage, and his $100,000 in UM coverage, should pay all his bills. Under current Georgia law, Elsie’s policy will eat into Charlie’s policy before he is able to take advantage of the UM coverage that he has been paying for. Thus, Charlie’s insurance company tells him that Elsie’s liability insurance covered the first $25,000 of his policy, and they will only pay the remaining $75,000 on his $100,000 UM policy. Charlie is left with $25,000 in unpaid medical bills that he must manage on his own.
In this example, if Charlie had purchased $25,000 in UM coverage, he would not be allowed to access a single penny of his UM coverage. In fact, in order for Charlie (or any other driver) to get the full benefit of the UM policy that they have been paying for, they have to be hit by a driver with NO INSURANCE WHATSOEVER. Getting hit by an underinsured driver means you don’t get what you pay for.
SB 276 would change the law to say that Charlie can access every penny of his UM policy, on top of Elsie’s liability policy, to cover his medical bills. His entire $100,000 in UM coverage would kick in after Elsie’s policy paid the first $25,000, allowing Charlie to pay his medical bills in full. Simply put, SB 276 gives Georgia consumers what they expect when they pay for UM coverage. As you can imagine, this bill is facing fierce opposition from the insurance industry.
Stay tuned.