Car Accident Lawyer
If you are in a car accident with a driver who doesn’t have insurance, do you know what to do? It’s a law in every state that all drivers carry liability car insurance, like a lawyer such as a car accident lawyer from a law firm like Greenspan & Greenspan P.C would advise.
. However, not everyone follows those rules. It’s essential to know your rights in these situations, so you aren’t stuck footing the bill for someone else’s actions.
1. Collect Their Information
Your first priority after an accident is to ensure everyone is safe. If there are no significant injuries, try to get the cars off the road. Once you are in a secure location, you must collect the other driver’s contact and insurance information. Since you don’t know if they have insurance coverage until you file a claim or they tell you they don’t, it’s vital to collect any policy information they provide. In any case, be sure to:
- get their name and driver’s license
- note the make, model, and license plate of their car
- document the damage with pictures
- get the contact information of any witnesses
- collect any insurance documents they do have, even if the date is expired.
If the other driver notifies you that they don’t have insurance, you should contact the police about the accident right away. They can provide you with official paperwork that may be necessary should you have to take the other driver to court.
2. File a Claim With Your Insurance
At the earliest change, contact your insurance company. You need to file a claim to begin the process of seeking damages from the other person’s insurance. Three things can happen at this point.
- The other driver has insurance, and your insurance company files a claim with them to get the damages paid to you.
- The other driver has minimal insurance that won’t cover the damages to your vehicle.
- The at-fault driver doesn’t have insurance coverage at all.
In the second and third situations, you may be able to activate your policy’s uninsured/underinsured coverage if you have it. Some states may require this, and in others, it’s optional, so see if you elected this additional coverage.
3. Contact a Lawyer
If you don’t have uninsured/underinsured insurance, it doesn’t mean that you cannot collect from the other driver. You do have the option of filing a lawsuit against them. Reach out to a car accident lawyer today to determine your options if you have been in an accident with an uninsured driver.