When you’re in a car accident, it’s a horrible time in your life and even more so if you suffer a serious injury that leaves you disabled with mounting medical bills. When this happens, you deserve to be compensated for the harm that you have suffered.
Sometimes, unfortunately, the other driver doesn’t have the necessary amount of insurance to cover your injuries, or they might have none at all. What do you do when this happens? Read about what happens when you’re hit by an uninsured driver and how having the right insurance and a car accident attorney can help your case.
Insurance for Uninsured Drivers
Far too many people are unaware that just because you win an injury claim, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to collect damages. When you file an injury suit, you are bound in many ways by the limits of the defendant’s insurance policy.
For example, if you have an injury valued at $300,000, but the defendant only has $200,000 in coverage, while the defendant is technically on the hook for the remaining $100,000, if they don’t have it to pay, you won’t be able to collect. It’s worse if they don’t have insurance at all.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage are two kinds of insurance that exist to protect drivers who face a potential case where insurance won’t cover the full amount of the damages. These two types of insurance will cover it, but only to the extent of your coverage.
This means that in the case of the above example if you’ve got $250,000 in underinsured motorist coverage, that’s the maximum you can collect between your insurance and theirs. Your insurance would pay an additional $50,000 of the $300,000 (to the limit of your coverage), rather than paying the full additional $100,000.
Making an Uninsured or Underinsured Claim
When you need to make a claim against your under- or uninsured insurance claim, you need to contact your insurance company as soon as you can to give them notice that you’re intent on making such a claim. You may have deadlines placed in your policy which may be very brief, so a timely claim is essential to getting coverage.
You may also have to wait for the claim to develop since you won’t know immediately how much your injury might be worth. It’s important to stay on top of developments so you can keep your insurer informed at every stage of the claim.
Usually, these kinds of claims move forward just like any claim, but they are against your insurer rather than (or in addition to) the other drivers. This means there will be investigations, medical records checks, and depositions. Usually, however, you don’t pursue a lawsuit against your insurer but go to arbitration if you can’t come to an agreement.
Using a Car Accident Attorney
This process is less formal, but can still be confusing and tricky, and it can be very helpful to have the services of an experienced car accident attorney to help make sure you have the best chance at maximum compensation. For years, Parrish DeVaughn has helped Oklahoma City residents pursue injuries and compensation and we can help you. Give us a call today!