What To Do After You Got Into An Accident With An Uninsured Motorist?
Car accidents are about as much to think about as the flu is. However, both are inevitable. Car accidents are further compounded if the at-fault party has no insurance. What do you do in this instance? You can do two things. You can read this article for valuable advice. Then you can hire a personal injury lawyer to help you craft that award-winning personal injury case.
Available options
Your personal injury lawyer in Morgan Hill will tell you that you need to purchase an uninsured motorist coverage rider. This will cover you in the event that you are hit by an uninsured motorist. This rider will allow you to submit a claim to your own insurance company which will be honored. Of course, you can always sue the uninsured motorist, either in or out of court. However, the process is lengthy and there is no guarantee you will get the settlement you need.
Why you need an uninsured motorist coverage rider
Approximately 15% of motorists in California are uninsured. Of course, California law requires all motorists to carry insurance. However, not everyone follows the law. Personal injury lawyers have worked on many cases where this applies. They will tell you that carrying uninsured motorist coverage as a rider to your current auto insurance policy is mandatory (even if California law doesn’t require it) because you never know when you will need it.
Your personal injury lawyer will tell you that an uninsured motorist coverage rider will save you from a lot of headaches if you suffer from a sprained back in a car accident. You may have $100,000 in doctor’s bills because of the accident. You may also be unable to work for six months. The bills and expenses will pile up as your savings dwindle. Your only saving grace may be the payout from the uninsured motorist coverage rider to your auto insurance policy.
You can, of course, sue the other driver in court, but…
You do always have the option of suing the uninsured motorist in court. But if he or she has no auto insurance, he or she probably has little financial assets from which to pay you. You will end up receiving a meager settlement. This amount will probably not be enough to pay for your huge expenses and bills that resulted from the accident. This may be true even if you receive an out-of-court settlement.
Uninsured motorist coverage riders are the way to go because you have few options for legal redress, if you are ever an in accident with an uninsured motorist, uninsured motorist coverage riders are the way to go.