An Uninsured Motorist can really ruin your day
Imagine you’re stopped at a traffic light; engine idling away as you listen to your favorite music, waiting for the light to change green and you can proceed. Out of no where another car comes barreling down the road and slams into the rear of your vehicle.
The back end of your nice automobile is squished together like an accordion which is a little like the way your spine is feeling. Carefully you extract yourself out of the car to address the other driver and assess the damage and make sure everyone is OK. The other guy gets out of his car and, shaking his head, he approaches you with a look of deep embarrassment and regret.
As you take out your insurance card the other guy holds up his hand and amongst the babble of his sob story he tells you he doesn’t have any automobile insurance. Aside from the mental picture of you giving him the beat down of his life, you’re thinking…….
“Will my insurance cover this?”
“Is my insurance company going to rise my rates even though this was clearly not my fault?”
“Am I supposed just let this guy go and have everything fall on my shoulders?”
“Can I kill him, stick him in the back seat and then dump him somewhere out at sea?” Ok, so maybe that last one isn’t a question you should be asking, at least not out loud and it’s not one we’re going to talk about in this article.
But the question of what to do in the case of uninsured motorists is one that comes up more frequently than we’d like. A little over 20% of drivers pilot the roads without any insurance at all and almost as many are driving without a licence as well. As a responsible individual concerned about the welfare of yourself, family and your vehicle, as well as the other motorists, having full coverage is a no brain-er and making sure that your policy includes uninsured motorists should be second nature.
If you have the misfortune to get into an accident and the other driver is without coverage, here are a few things to be aware of.
1.First and foremost - You’re covered. Being covered doesn’t just mean that you can have your car repaired, it means medical expenses and property damages. And this goes for the other guy. Oh yes even if the accident was the fault of the other driver, he can still sue you for damages.He may not win but sometimes weird things can happen if you have to go to court so it is always best to let your Insurance company, with their staff of lawyers, handle that end of the deal.
2.Be prepared for litigation. - Most insurance companies will pay claims up to a certain point and will expect you to go after the other party for the balance. Since most people that drive without insurance don’t have a lot of money be sure to get all the information you can from them “before they leave the scene”. This means anything and everything such as driver’s licence (hopefully they have one), phone numbers, address, employer information, car licence and any information you can from passengers that may have been in the car with them. The most information you get the easier it will be to find them when you have to serve them. You may also find out they have assets such as a house of bank accounts that will be accessed in the lawsuit.
3.Be cognizant of what they are driving and find out if they work as a delivery person. If so, confirm if they were working at the time of the accident. This is very important because if they were on the clock, the accident will be on the company dime.This in itself can make a big difference in the amount of damages paid as you can imagine. Many people and some lawyers as well are unaware of statute in the law (California) that says that an employee whose duties involved transportation/delivery for the company; whether they use a company car or their own in the commission of their responsibilities, are on company time from the start of their day upon arriving at the office, “until they reach their home.”This means if the uninsured motorist is working for a company that is dumb enough to allow them to work for them without insurance, whether provided by the company or by the employee, and they get into an accident - the company can be sued for damages and held liable.
4. Make sure you know before you sign on with an insurance company what their policy is about rising rates after accidents. Some are more forgiving others but you better find that out first. As with most things in life, being prepared makes the unexpected easier to deal with. That’s what insurance is all about.