Hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver in Las Vegas or Colorado Springs?
Being involved in a car accident is incredibly scary and can be quite serious. It can be a frustrating situation to deal with, and even more so if you have been hit by an uninsured driver. Sadly, this is quite a common occurrence. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that around 13% of US drivers don’t have insurance. This is around 1 in 9 drivers.
In cases where you have been involved in a car accident with an uninsured driver, there are a few avenues that you can go down to recover your costs, such as make a claim against your own insurance policy or personally suing the uninsured driver, although the latter option is likely not viable as that person may be judgment proof.
Why do some people not have insurance?
Surprisingly, uninsured drivers aren’t avoiding buying insurance because they don’t want to pay for it or that they forgot to renew their policy. In most cases, drivers don’t carry insurance because they cannot afford it.
This makes it a little more complicated to make a claim against the driver personally. There is a chance that they won’t have the assets to compensate you. This can leave you paying for your vehicle repairs, medical bills, and other expenses from the accident (for example, loss of earnings).
But just because someone claims to be uninsured, you shouldn’t simply take their word for it. You should still follow the same procedures that you would if you had a crash with an insured driver, such as making a note of their driver’s license number, license plate number, and contact information. You then need to pass this information on to your personal injury attorney and/or your insurer. They may have the tools/resources to see if they are, in fact, uninsured or not and can recommend what to do from there.
There is a further problem that you need to also consider. Most drivers only carry the minimum amount of coverage required by law. This amount differs per state and is often too low to cover all your costs. These underinsured drivers can often leave you footing the bill. But in the same way that you can pursue alternative avenues with uninsured drivers, you can do the same with underinsured drivers too.
Due to the complexities involved in suing an uninsured or underinsured drivers, the need to work with a personal injury attorney increases. A personal injury attorney can help you through your claim and recommend the best course of action in seeking compensation. If you have recently had an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver, then we encourage you to speak with Kim Welch Law. We offer a free consultation, so you have nothing to lose (and everything to gain) by speaking with us. You can call our team at (888) 590-5510 or get in touch through our contact page.
What options are available to you?
Uninsured and underinsured accident cases typically offer a few paths that you can take to recover your costs and be compensated.
- Claim against your own uninsured driver coverage. Many insurance policies will have uninsured or underinsured coverage. With this, you can claim against your own policy to recover your damages. Speak with your insurer to see if this is something that you have.
- Pursue a claim against the owner of the car’s insurance.The uninsured, at-fault driver may not be the owner of the vehicle. This gives you the opportunity to make a claim against the car owner’s insurance. The owner could be a parent of the driver, their friend, or a car rental company, etc. This option isn’t available to you if the uninsured driver is the owner of the vehicle.
- Suing the driver personally to claim against their personal assets.This is often difficult, because uninsured drivers may not have the assets to claim against to cover all your costs. But this is an option available to you. You should always have a consultation with a personal injury attorney before you try and sue the at-fault driver personally.
These three options may not be the only steps available to your and your situation. An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to give specific advice for your case.
How to stay protected in the future
Our first recommendation to you is to make sure that you have a comprehensive insurance policy. A policy that gives you the right cover if you ever have an accident. You should try and find insurance that provides you with sufficient:
- Uninsured driver coverage
- Underinsured driver coverage
- Collision coverage.
Having these protections can help to reimburse many of your out-of-pocket expenses.
When making a claim on your own insurance policy, or if you take the uninsured driver to court, you will need to provide evidence that you were not responsible for the accident. Not only that, but you will need evidence of the expenses or bills that have come as a result of the accident as well.
You can find a full breakdown of what to do after a crash here. This guide walks you through the paperwork that you need to keep and how to record information after a car accident. This will help you when making a claim to an insurance company or in front of a judge. Some types of records to keep would include your medical bills and medical records from your doctor and a quote to fix your vehicle (or the bill if you have already taken it to a garage).
Bring this information to your personal injury attorney and together you can figure out which path to take to reclaim your costs/claim your compensation. You can then construct a plan of action to bring against the at-fault driver.
What to do next if you have been hit by an uninsured driver?
Making a claim against an uninsured driver is usually more difficult than against an insured driver. This is why it is highly recommended to do this while working with a personal injury attorney. The circumstances around the crash will be entirely different from most other claims of this type. Such as the amount of uninsured driver coverage that you have, or whether the uninsured driver has any assets. This is why we advise that you speak to our team at Kim Welch Law today.
Here at Kim Welch Law, we have years of experience in dealing with car accidents for both insured and uninsured drivers. Kim has years of experience litigating on behalf of insurance companies, and she now uses this knowledge to fight for you. She understands the way that insurance companies work, which is an invaluable tool in an uninsured driver collision.
To speak to Kim Welch Law today for a free consultation, please call (888) 590-5510 or complete our contact form. We provide a dedicated and thorough service to all of our clients, putting you at the center of your claim.