It is estimated that one in seven drivers in the United States are consistently operating motor vehicles without insurance coverage. This article discusses the rise in uninsured motorist accidents and the need for people to review their insurance coverage to determine that they would be able to receive monetary compensation from their own carrier in the event of an accident with an uninsured driver.
Due to the state of the economy, there are many people across the U.S. who, unfortunately, decide that car insurance is something they cannot "afford". They don't make the premium payments and their coverage lapses. What happens if you are involved in an auto accident with one of these drivers? Well, the answer is fairly straightforward if you have uninsured motorist coverage in your auto policy. If this is the case, you simply open a claim with your own insurance carrier, request a police report and proof (usually a certification from the Department of Motor Vehicles) showing a lack of coverage and submit a claim for present and future medical expenses and all other damages one might assert
against the at fault driver with your own insurance carrier. The process differs slightly from state to state on this issue but, most states are fairly uniform in their practices. As I am licensed in California, I will use that as an example of how a typical uninsured motorist claim would work as follows:
California Insurance Code section 11580 requires that all policies of auto insurance issued must contain coverage for uninsured motorist ("UM") collisions equal to the overall limits for other types of claims unless it is waived in writing at the time the policy is issued. Whether any individual state has this requirement or not, the first step is to always verify coverage before an accident occurs. Once this is verified, a party would need to request a police report be issued and obtain a copy of this report. A Report of Accident is filed with the DMV and this is followed by a Request for Proof of Financial Responsibility (i.e. insurance). If this documentation comes back from DMV showing that neither the driver nor the vehicle were insured, the is adequate proof that a valid UM claim lies.
Upon completion of medical treatment, the injured party would submit all pertinent medical records, bills and reports showing the cost of present and future medical treatment and request settlement of the claim which would include so-called "general damages" for pain, suffering, disruption of lifestyle and emotional distress. If the insurance company and the insured cannot agree upon a reasonable amount for settlement of the claim, the insured would need to demand arbitration of the claim. Some states may allow for the litigation of such claims but, all insurance policies issued in California have mandatory arbitration provisions. The parties would then conduct "discovery" which could include written questions (called interrogatories), oral depositions (statements given under oath which are recorded by a certified court reporter) and requests for documents from each other along with requesting that medical providers turn over all pertinent records. This stage may also include a medical examination request by the insurance company to have their physician conduct a physical examination of the injured party and verify the claimed injuries.
Once the discovery process has been completed, the parties would conduct an arbitration of the claim. This is somewhat similar to a trial where the parties and their evidence in the form of documents and testimony from the injured party, medical and other experts and any other pertinent witnesses. This process culminates with the issuance of a decision by the arbitrator (private judge) as to whether an award will be granted to the injured party and for how much. California law allows for a set off for any payments received by the insured from so called "collateral sources" like insurance payments made by parties who are not completely without insurance but, rather have minimal or low policy limits that don't fully cover all the damages sustained by the claimant (so-called Underinsured motorists). Upon issuance of an award, the insurance company typically pays the amount awarded although the courts have some, limited powers to correct certain awards. The majority of cases are settled at some point prior to an actual arbitration being conducted.
Oftentimes, an uninsured motorist claim results in a settlement or award that is as much or more than what one would expect had the claim been submitted against the at fault driver (assuming that person had sufficient insurance coverage). For this reason it is extremely important to have uninsured motorist coverage in an amount as high as feasible. Every person should review their policy with their insurance broker to assure that they have such coverage prior to an accident.
