If you have been involved in a car accident and the person who hit you does not have enough insurance to cover your damages – then you should know that you aren’t the only one facing this issue, as this is a common occurrence.
It’s crucial to understand that insurance policy limits are a critical factor in personal injury cases.
Questions the Lawyer Will Ask You
Usually – here is what happens if you call a lawyer after having been involved in an accident. The lawyer, straight off the bat, asks you the following three questions:
- Who is at fault for the accident?
- Are there any injuries involved in the accident?
- Is there insurance?
Now, when it comes to the fault of the accident, it is essential for the lawyer to establish whose actual fault the accident was in the first place.
On that note, if you are the one who caused the accident, then you probably cannot recover your damages. However, this aspect can vary depending on the state that you are in and how much responsibility you have for the accident.
Personal Injury vs. Property Damage
Another thing you should know is that if there are no injuries, there is very little a personal injury lawyer might do for you as they exclusively deal with the facts that come after you have sustained injuries resulting from the accident.
Most of the personal injury lawyers that you will meet won’t just handle property damage cases; that is why you might get in touch with the lawyer after you have been in an accident. However, the first two aspects are questionable if there is no insurance.
The Importance of Insurance
The thing is that if there is no insurance or no insurance company to file a claim with, there are no pockets from which to get money.
Now, you might be wondering why you cannot file suit against the person who caused the accident when they don’t have insurance. The answer is that you can still sue them, but you must understand that the chances are that if they don’t have insurance, they probably don’t have any potential assets to pursue.
When we refer to insurance policy limits, we essentially refer to the money that the driver of the car that caused the accident is insured for. Often, you will hear the insurance policy limits stated in terms of twenty-five-fifty, and what this means is that the person has insurance for twenty-five thousand dollars for one individual they hurt and fifty thousand dollars insurance for the entire accident.
How Do Insurance Policy Limits Come Into Play
You might have started getting an idea about how insurance limits come into play. Suppose you have gotten into an accident, and the at-fault driver has a twenty-five thousand dollar insurance policy. Now, what would happen if you had a hundred thousand dollars in damages while there was only twenty-five thousand dollars in insurance coverage?
This means that the insurance company is only on the hook for the first twenty-five thousand dollars. So, the question is, what would you do in this case?
You have a few options. If you have an underinsured motorist on your insurance policy, you can look for the balance on your policy. Now, let us say that there is not enough to compensate you; then, theoretically, you will have to go after the defendant personally to recover the balance of what you are owed.
When to Sue the Driver Individually
Let us look at things from another scenario: suppose the guy who hit you has a twenty-five-fifty insurance policy, which means that there is a fifty thousand dollar amount for the entire accident. Now, you might have had a few other people in your car, and each one of you suffered more than fifty thousand dollars in damages.
What is your best route to get covered for the entire accident, as the at-fault driver has a limited insurance policy, which has to be divided between all victims of the car crash? The answer is that all potential victims can go after the driver’s uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage or even their own underinsured coverage, and finally – if there is no other choice – all victims have to go after the driver individually.
The Law Is Different in All States
It is important to mention here that there can be one general exception to this rule about insurance policy limits. However, before we get into the exception, you should always check the law in your state because the law might be different from one state to another.
The exception that we are referring to is generally when the insurance company denies the policy limits demand on the attorney while knowing they are on the hook. While this doesn’t happen as often – it is possible. Often, you have to work closely with a professional attorney and go after the insurance company to recover the amount that you deserve.
Suppose you do get into an accident and you sustain a personal injury. But – there are insurance policy limits, which means that there is insurance that covers your damages. So, you should understand what the insurance policy limits are and how they come into play.
Your Medical Bills Will Be Taken Care of
If you have gotten into an accident and sustained an injury, you should also know how your medical bills can affect the potential settlement of the accident. The surmounting of medical bills is always a big concern, which is why they are taken into consideration at the time of determining the settlement amount.
Normally, the medical bills are taken care of and included in the settlement. Suppose you have a fifty thousand dollars settlement and you have ten thousand in medical bills, so what would normally happen is that from the fifty thousand settlement, the ten thousand medical bills get paid.
There will always be some negotiation to try to lower that amount. However, the medical bills will be paid directly from that settlement amount. It is not that the insurance company will pay the medical bills separately and offer you an additional amount for the accident itself.
So, if you are injured, getting medical care and treatment should be your top priority. You need to go to the doctor and not worry about the medical bills, as these will be included in the settlement.
