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The aftermath of any car accident may include injuries, pain, medical bills, car repair costs, missed work, and other disruptions to your life. But a car accident with an uninsured driver may be even more distressing, as you don’t know if or how you’ll be able to extract compensation for these losses. Fortunately, some options are usually available to you, depending on your circumstances.
A Georgia car accident lawyer can shed some light on the possibilities for your case, as well as take steps to help preserve your legal rights. Attorney Ali Awad is committed to fighting for his clients after an accident. Just a few years ago, he founded the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm and quickly transformed it into one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. Meanwhile, Mr. Awad takes the time to give entertaining yet practical legal advice to more than a million followers on social media. If you have concerns about being injured in a car accident, the next best step you can take is to contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation about your case.
What Do I Do After a Collision With an Uninsured Motorist?
Being in an accident due to someone else’s negligence is frustrating enough on its own. You may be injured, possibly to the point of having to miss work, and your bills aren’t going to pay themselves. Then there’s the damage to your car, which isn’t cheap either. For many people, the knee-jerk reaction is to feel fear and stress at the thought of being left to pay for all these expenses. But try to stay calm, and contact an attorney as soon as possible because there may still be ways to get some or all of your damages covered. Let’s take a look at some possibilities:
Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage: Don’t Leave Home Without It
You never know when you’re going to get in a car accident, let alone with an uninsured driver. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UI) helps you plan for any contingency, including the possibility of an uninsured driver collision. According to the Insurance Information Institute, more than 12 percent of Georgia drivers don’t carry any insurance, so it’s essential to be prepared.
UM/UI coverage on your own insurance policy will pay for your damages up to the policy limit when you have an accident with an uninsured driver. Like regular liability requirements, UM/UI options start at $25,000 each for bodily injury and property damage, but you can buy a larger amount of coverage. Depending on the specific type of UM/UI insurance you purchased, it may or may not cover your damages if the other driver has insufficient insurance to cover all your costs.
Many people are surprised to learn all of the ways UM/UI insurance can be applied:
- If you are the victim of a hit and run driver and all efforts to identify and locate them have failed, you can use your UM/UI coverage.
- UM/UI insurance works even if you are nowhere near your car when the crash occurs. For example, if you are hit by an uninsured motorist while crossing a street or taking a bike ride, your UM/UI coverage will kick in.
- Most UM/UI insurance policies will broadly cover you, your spouse, other family members who live at your address, and anyone who borrows your car with your consent.
- Passengers in your car are also covered if they suffer an injury caused by an uninsured or underinsured motorist.
- A “stackable” UM/UI policy will kick in for additional damages after the other driver’s policy has paid out to its limit.
Other Coverage On Your Own Insurance: MedPay And Collision Coverage
UM/UI is a very valuable type of car insurance, but two additional types of coverage may help in an uninsured motorist accident: MedPay and Collision coverage.
When we discuss these options with clients, they’re often confused. Many ask, “Isn’t that what liability insurance is?”
This is a very common misconception. Unfortunately, it’s easy to expect bodily injury liability to cover your injuries in a car accident. But in fact, it only covers your liability for another person’s injuries and has nothing to do with your own. The same is true of property damage liability insurance – neither of these required policies will cover your costs if an accident is your fault or is caused by an uninsured driver.
MedPay is a type of coverage for your medical bills if you’re hurt in an accident and other coverage doesn’t apply, and Collision does the same for car repair bills. These policies are not required by law, but are well worth it if you have any kind of accident where you can’t collect damages from another driver – single car crashes, accidents where you are at fault, crashes caused by wildlife, hit and run collisions, and uninsured motorist accidents. You may also be able to “stack” MedPay on top of UM/UI coverage if you have very expensive medical bills not covered by UM/UI.
Filing a Lawsuit
This is only an option in a small percentage of uninsured motorist crashes. Although you have a legal right to sue an uninsured driver directly, in most cases, it is not a good solution to your expense problem. The reality is that many people who lack car insurance do not have any significant assets we could seize in a lawsuit, so you would only be spending time and money to ultimately receive nothing.
However, there are a few very uncommon situations where the driver may have assets but simply forgot or overlooked their insurance coverage for some reason. In a few cases, we find other third parties may have some liability in the client’s injuries, such as the manufacturer of a defective airbag or braking system. In one of these situations, it may make sense to proceed with a lawsuit.
Contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm
If you or a loved one have been injured by the actions of an uninsured or underinsured motorist, please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm right away for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’ll go over the options available in your case and answer any questions you have. If we take your case, we’ll get started seeking compensation so you can get back on your feet, and we won’t charge you any fees until we reach a settlement.