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Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I Have Been In An Auto Accident And The Other Party Doesn't Have Insurance, What Do I Do?
So you’ve been in an automobile accident and have discovered that the other party does not have insurance. What do you do now?
The first step is to turn the claim in to your automobile insurance carrier. Don’t worry, your rates will not go up if you were not at fault for the accident. Your insurance carrier will likely send a claims adjuster to inspect your vehicle. Some insurance companies advise you to take your car to an authorized repair shop for an estimate. Either way, your company will pay for your repairs, except for the “deductible” that you have selected on your insurance coverage. The most common amount of deductible is $500, though many people have a $100 or $250 deductible, and some others have a deductible of $1,000. The higher deductible that you have chosen, the cheaper your automobile insurance will be.
After your vehicle is repaired, your insurance company will begin a process called “subrogation”. Subrogation is where your insurance company attempts to collect the monies that it paid out to repair your vehicle from the at-fault party. This may or may not involve the filing of a lawsuit. If a lawsuit is filed, you may have to appear in court and testify as to what occurred in the accident. Your insurance company will also attempt to recover your deductible in the subrogation process. As you can imagine, subrogation is a difficult process, because most times you are dealing with an individual who did not maintain automobile insurance. In my experience, the individual who does not maintain automobile insurance coverage often does not maintain or have many other assets from which to make retribution on the subrogation claim. Still, the efforts prove worthwhile more times than you might expect.
The next step, if you were injured in the accident, is to present a claim for “uninsured motorist benefits”. Uninsured Motorist Benefits are benefits that are available to you as an option on your automobile insurance policy. If you have chosen to have Uninsured Motorist Benefits, you may be eligible to receive payment from your insurance company if you were injured by a driver who did not maintain automobile insurance on his vehicle. This payment would cover any type of “pain and suffering” or lost wages that you may have incurred as a result of the auto accident. This benefit is a relatively inexpensive option that provides much needed coverage to you in a time of need, and is recommended to all drivers
The first step is to turn the claim in to your automobile insurance carrier. Don’t worry, your rates will not go up if you were not at fault for the accident. Your insurance carrier will likely send a claims adjuster to inspect your vehicle. Some insurance companies advise you to take your car to an authorized repair shop for an estimate. Either way, your company will pay for your repairs, except for the “deductible” that you have selected on your insurance coverage. The most common amount of deductible is $500, though many people have a $100 or $250 deductible, and some others have a deductible of $1,000. The higher deductible that you have chosen, the cheaper your automobile insurance will be.
After your vehicle is repaired, your insurance company will begin a process called “subrogation”. Subrogation is where your insurance company attempts to collect the monies that it paid out to repair your vehicle from the at-fault party. This may or may not involve the filing of a lawsuit. If a lawsuit is filed, you may have to appear in court and testify as to what occurred in the accident. Your insurance company will also attempt to recover your deductible in the subrogation process. As you can imagine, subrogation is a difficult process, because most times you are dealing with an individual who did not maintain automobile insurance. In my experience, the individual who does not maintain automobile insurance coverage often does not maintain or have many other assets from which to make retribution on the subrogation claim. Still, the efforts prove worthwhile more times than you might expect.
The next step, if you were injured in the accident, is to present a claim for “uninsured motorist benefits”. Uninsured Motorist Benefits are benefits that are available to you as an option on your automobile insurance policy. If you have chosen to have Uninsured Motorist Benefits, you may be eligible to receive payment from your insurance company if you were injured by a driver who did not maintain automobile insurance on his vehicle. This payment would cover any type of “pain and suffering” or lost wages that you may have incurred as a result of the auto accident. This benefit is a relatively inexpensive option that provides much needed coverage to you in a time of need, and is recommended to all drivers
# posted by gopi @ 9:01 PM 
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