What Happens When You Are Hit by an Uninsured Driver?

The scene of a car accident can be a noisy and chaotic place. If you have experienced a car accident, your priority should be to check on the safety of everyone involved and call 911 if anyone is injured.

Unless you are going to the hospital for emergency medical treatment, you should not leave the accident scene without exchanging contact details and insurance information with the other drivers.

But what happens if the driver who hit you does not have car insurance? Below you will find a summary of your options. Reach out to a local car accident lawyer for legal advice.

Suing an Uninsured Driver

If an uninsured driver causes a traffic accident with you, you have the right to sue them. An experienced car accident lawyer can help you with your lawsuit. This will entail collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, visiting the accident scene, and more.

Using this evidence, your lawyer will build your car accident case and demonstrate that the other driver was at fault. They will also gather records of your medical expenses and property damages. With these records in hand, they can request reimbursement for these expenses from the at-fault driver. They might request compensation for your pain and suffering or mental anguish, too.

Your attorney can negotiate a settlement if the at-fault driver does not agree to your demands. Settlement negotiations can go back and forth for weeks or months. In some cases, it may become impossible to work out a fair settlement through negotiation. In this case, your attorney might need to take your case to court.

However, suing an uninsured driver will only be worth your time and effort if the driver has the assets to compensate you for your damages. Unfortunately, uninsured drivers often don’t have the financial ability to offer proper compensation. If the at-fault driver cannot pay for your damages, you will have to go to your own insurance policy for reimbursement.

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No-Fault or Personal Injury Protection Coverage

Some states are no-fault states for car insurance purposes. You usually cannot sue the other drivers for your car accident damages in a no-fault state. In this sense, it does not matter who caused your accident in a no-fault state. The exception to this would be if your injuries and property damage were severe and exceeded a certain threshold.

If an uninsured driver hits you in a no-fault state, you will not have much legal recourse against them. Instead, you will need to make an insurance claim for your covered losses from your own no-fault insurance policy. A no-fault auto insurance policy is also known as “personal injury protection” or PIP coverage.

Your no-fault or PIP car insurance coverage will usually reimburse you for:

• Medical bills
• Wages you lost while recovering from the collision
• Funeral expenses for fatal accidents

Notably absent from the above list is reimbursement for pain and suffering, a type of non-economic damage. Non-economic damages include difficult-to-quantify damages such as loss of enjoyment, emotional distress, and pain and suffering.

In states that follow an at-fault model for car insurance, negligent drivers can be legally liable for damages they have caused. You have the legal right to hold an at-fault driver responsible for your damages. You can seek reimbursement from the other party’s insurance company for non-economic damages like pain and suffering. However, insurance does not cover pain and suffering in no-fault states.

Suing an Uninsured Driver in a No-Fault State

You might be able to sue the at-fault driver even in a no-fault state. However, this is the exception rather than the rule. Suing the other driver in a no-fault state is only possible if you sustained severe bodily injury, such as:

• Permanent disability
• Disfigurement
• Loss of a pregnancy
• Fracture of a weight-bearing bone
• Substantial medical costs
• Significant property damage

An experienced car accident attorney can explain your legal options. Your attorney will need to gather evidence to show the accident was the other driver’s fault. Evidence includes police reports, medical records, video footage, eyewitness testimony, and more. Next, they will need to build a case and file a claim against the at-fault driver.

Remember that even if you can file a lawsuit in a no-fault state, you still might not be able to recover compensation from an uninsured driver. If you are lucky, the uninsured at-fault driver in your accident has sufficient assets to cover your losses.

However, many uninsured drivers simply do not have the funds to reimburse you for your damages. So, even though the uninsured driver ought to reimburse you, they might not have the means to do so. For this reason, many drivers add uninsured motorist coverage or underinsured motorist coverage to their car insurance policies.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage

The majority of states require all motorists to have valid auto insurance. However, many drivers on the road violate these laws by failing to obtain insurance or letting their coverage lapse.

If the at-fault driver doesn’t have insurance, you will probably have to get compensation through your own insurance. The best way to financially protect yourself from uninsured motorists is to carry uninsured motorist (UM) coverage.

UM is an optional add-on to your liability insurance in most states. Keep in mind, though, that your UM coverage can usually only be equal to or less than the amount of your liability insurance. With UM, you can recover for physical injuries you sustained due to a crash with an uninsured driver. However, you need additional uninsured driver property damage coverage to receive an insurance payment for your vehicle and other property damage.

Underinsured Motorist Coverage

If you were in an accident with an insured driver whose policy limits were too low to cover your losses, underinsured motorist coverage can help. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage is meant to cover the gap between the at-fault driver’s coverage and your damages.

“In South Carolina, for example, there is a provision of insurance coverage that is required called uninsured motorist coverage. That’s the coverage that would come into play if you’re involved in a wreck with a driver who doesn’t have insurance at all,” says Sydney Lynn, a personal injury attorney at Joye Law Firm in Columbia. In that case, you file the claim under your own insurance rather than theirs.

For example, suppose you were in an accident that caused property damage and medical expenses of $200,000. The at-fault driver’s insurance policy only covers $100,000. In that case, you can make a claim through your underinsured motorist coverage for the remaining $100,000.

“We encourage people to get the underinsured coverage on their own policy,” Lynn says. She likewise encourages clients to increase their coverage beyond the minimum required. “Bump it up to at least $50,000 or $100,000. That’s usually not too cost-prohibitive.”

Underinsured motorist coverage is legally required in some states. Although it is not the same as uninsured motorist coverage, you might have purchased it together. Your insurance agent can provide you with more information about your policy and tell you about the premiums for UM and UIM coverage.

Dealing With the Insurance Company

If you navigate it on your own, it is crucial that you remember that an insurance claim is a fundamentally adversarial process.

“Keep in mind the insurance adjuster works for the insurance company. They aren’t necessarily telling you everything you need to know when it comes to negotiating a settlement on a claim. They might not offer fair value because their objective is to save money for their employer,” Lynn says.

How Can an Attorney Help?

If an uninsured driver struck your vehicle and caused injuries, it would be wise to explore all legal options to recover for your expenses. First, you will need to seek reimbursement from your own insurance company. But you may also need to explore the possibility of suing the at-fault driver.

“It’s fair to say that anytime you are injured, you should talk to a lawyer to find out if they should get involved or not,” Lynn says. “Any good lawyer will tell you if you don’t need us. We only want to get involved in situations where we can create a benefit for you and improve your situation.”

An experienced car accident attorney can do a case review to help you determine whether suing the uninsured driver is worth your time and effort. Most accident attorneys offer a free consultation. So, you most likely will not need to pay anything to learn more about your legal options. If you hire an attorney to guide your case through the legal process, they will gather evidence and build your case while you focus on recovery.

“Make every decision to the tune of, ‘Better safe than sorry,'” Lynn says. “If you say, ‘Oh, my back is a little sore but I’ll be fine in a couple of days,’ you can wait, but if you don’t improve, you need to get to a doctor to get those symptoms documented.” An insurance provider could later argue that waiting worsened your condition.

Find Legal Help

Car insurance companies usually place a time limit on your ability to make an uninsured motorist claim. State law also has a statute of limitations that places a deadline on your ability to file a car accident lawsuit. To preserve your legal options, you should contact a car accident lawyer for legal advice.