In West Virginia, a driver is required to carry at least $20,000 in uninsured motorist coverage, please see the insurance commissioner regulations. You can be in an accident and although you have insurance, the other party who is at fault, may not have any insurance.

According to the Insurance Research Counsel in the year 2006 for West Virginia, 9.7 percent of drivers were uninsured and 9 percent for the year 2008. Uninsured means they were driving an automobile without any insurance on the car. Currently in West Virginia almost one out of every 10 drivers on the roads are driving without insurance placing you and I at risk.

This is where uninsurance auto insurance coverage comes into play. Since the person who is at fault is without insurance or uninsured, your policy will pay for your damages, which includes lost wages, medial bills and pain and suffering. Therefore if a driver has uninsurance coverage in West Virginia they are protested? Sadly the answer is often no.

The reason is simply because most driver only have the minimum coverage or $20,000 and just because you have uninsurance coverage does not mean you are adequately protected. Given the rising cost of health care, if you are in an car accident and injured through no fault of you own, medical bills can quickly add up.

The West Virginia Insurance Commissioner requires that all policy holders are required to have $20,000 in uninsured motorist coverage. However, this may often not be enough until it is too late to increase your coverage, when you have been injured by an uninsured motorist.

Always read the document you sign when you purchase insurance and ask your insurance agent, "How much will it cost to increase my uninsured motorist coverage?"