The Utah state legislature is apparently debating a measure which would increase the minimum limits drivers are required to carry on their auto insurance. The Salt Lake Tribune opines:
The change would boost rates 4 to 10 percent per year - $72 annually for the average policy - an increase that could prompt some low-income motorists who carry the minimum, including the newly married, college students and people on fixed incomes, to drop their insurance.
That would not only hurt insurance companies but would impact insured drivers who are involved in accidents with the uninsured. Utah law has aimed to keep all drivers insured, but this change would work to the contrary.[...]
We’re certain that legislators have heard stories about people with minimum coverage who have been involved in serious accidents and whose medical costs and repairs were not wholly covered.
But Utah law should not impose requirements to compensate victims of catastrophic accidents. Instead, the law should protect the vast majority, and as it is currently written, it does just that. No change is needed.
The editorial caught my eye, not only because the concept of mandatory auto insurance is interesting to consider, but also because it’s a subject that strikes close to home. (The medical bills alone for my wife’s car accident six years ago are six figures and counting.)
Minimum limits are nowhere near the amount required to compensate a victim of a serious crash, and I do find it a little galling that I have to purchase so much Underinsured Motorists coverage to protect myself from others unwilling to guarantee that they will make good on the damage they cause.
However, serious crashes are, thankfully relatively rare in the grand scheme of things, and ensuring that as many people as possible have the most basic coverage is surprisingly effective at reducing the total uninsured loss load.