When you are involved in a car accident, your first thought might be to exchange insurance information with the other party. After all, it is important to be able to file a claim when your vehicle, or even you yourself, are damaged or injured. Unfortunately, not everyone carries insurance. That doesn’t mean that you have no options to fall back on should you end up in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured individual, however, as you can always consider using uninsured motorist coverage to help pay for your damages.
What is underinsured driver coverage?
Much as the name might suggest, underinsured driver coverage is the type of insurance you would use when you are in a car accident of some sort and the individual at fault has no insurance, or does not have enough insurance to cover your claim. In this instance, you could opt to file an insurance claim with your own insurance provider. You can do this for the limit specified on your underinsured motorist coverage policy, however keep in mind that you can only do this if the limits on the negligent driver’s policy is less than the underinsured driver coverage.
To put it a bit more clearly, let’s say that you are in a car accident and have damages of $10,000. Your negligent driver’s policy only has $8,000 of coverage, which means that you would be unable to collect all of your damages from them. In this case, you would settle for the $8,000 their insurance will pay out and then file a claim for the remaining $2,000 with your own insurance. What you can’t do is take the $8,000 from the negligent driver and then file a claim with your own insurance for $10,000 to cover your damages. It’s not legal to “double dip” policy payouts in this way.
Finally, it is important to remember that underinsured driver coverage will not exceed the dollar amount of your primary coverage. If you have $12,000 of primary coverage, for example, you can only have $12,000 of underinsured driver coverage.
How can I file a claim?
If you or a loved one have been in a car accident with an underinsured or uninsured driver, you should consider reaching out to an experienced attorney today for more information regarding your rights and your options. They can help you take a clear look at your case and work with you to file the proper claims with the insurance companies involved.
You should act quickly, even if you decide against hiring an attorney – there might be a deadline in place that could render your uninsured driver claim invalid if you wait too long. Contact your insurance company immediately to let them know what happened and to file a claim. Note that this process might take longer with underinsured policy claims as it will take awhile to see just how much your medical bills and total damages cost. Once you realize that the amount exceeds the negligent driver’s insurance, however, it’s time to act.
For more information, reach out to our knowledgeable attorneys today!