Frequently Asked Questions

The answer is, it depends. In Oregon, if you have auto insurance or live in a house that does, then any injury you sustain in an automobile-related accident would first be paid by that auto insurance, even if you have health insurance. A car crash victim will often arrive at an emergency room and show their health insurance benefits card rather than the auto insurance identification card. If the victim was a passenger in a vehicle belonging to someone else, the patient might not be able to show proof of the auto insurance belonging to the car’s driver, in which they suffered injuries, regardless of fault.

The State of Oregon requires four mandatory coverages:

• Bodily Injury Liability
• Property damage Liability
• Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury
• Personal Injury Protection.

You have an expensive car, and someone rear-ends you, causing it to be totaled. They have $20,000 in property damage liability, leaving you short, say, $30,000. Who will pay the difference?

Mandatory UMBI

As part of our auto policy, Oregon requires us to purchase insurance to cover ourselves if someone without insurance hits us. But why? If it’s the law, every car on the street should have insurance. “I’m paying for what someone else should buy? That doesn’t seem fair.”