PA Car Insurance: Stacking of Limits

Required minimum coverage under Pennsylvania law:

• Not required

Our law firm’s recommended minimum coverage:

• Stack the limits of your uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage

When you insure more than one vehicle, you can maximize the coverage on your Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist coverage by stacking your benefits. If you have more than one vehicle in your household and elect to stack your coverage, your Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage would equal the sum of the coverage for all the vehicles.

EXAMPLE:

There are two automobiles in your household. Each vehicle has our minimum recommended Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage and you have "stacked" the limits. You would actually have the following coverage available to you:

The cost for stacking of Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage is relatively inexpensive. Remember, eliminating or reducing the limits of these coverages may offer you some savings, but it could also cost you thousands of dollars if you are ever injured in a car accident. Ask your insurance company representative about stacking your benefits to get the most coverage for your money.

EXAMPLE:

You are seriously injured in a car accident and the value of your case exceeds $200,000. However, the driver who caused the accident only has auto insurance with liability limits of $15,000. This driver is "underinsured".

You have two cars covered on your own car insurance policy. You have chosen to carry Underinsured Motorist coverage of $100,000 per person for each car, and you have elected to stack your coverage. You now have $200,000 of Underinsured Motorist coverage available to you. The $200,000 of Underinsured Motorist coverage from your own auto insurance policy, plus the $15,000 from the at-fault driver’s liability coverage, would mean that you could potentially receive a total of $215,000.

However, if you did not elect to stack your Underinsured Motorist coverage, you would only receive $15,000 from the at-fault driver’s liability coverage, plus a maximum of $100,000 from your policy, equaling $115,000 for your total compensation. You would, therefore, receive $100,000 less than what you may otherwise have been entitled to receive.

Worse yet, had you not chosen Underinsured motorist coverage on your own car insurance policy, you would only be able to collect $15,000 from the at-fault driver’s liability coverage. In this case, you would have lost $200,000 by not choosing underinsured coverage for you vehicles and not stacking these coverages. That is money out of your pocket that you may need – especially if you are off work or require extensive treatment.