How Does Victim of Accident Get Paid If Defendant Lacked Insurance?

Different jurisdictions have arrived at different methods for ensuring delivery of a payment to an accident victim, even if the responsible party had failed to purchase an insurance policy.

Some rules regulate a method that applies to accidents that have taken place in a no-fault state.

In such states, each driver must purchase an insurance policy that ensures coverage of medical care for all the parties that were involved in a given collision. In other words, each driver’s insurance covers all the medical costs, no matter who has been named as the at-fault driver.

Still, if those costs were to rise above a certain threshold level, then the responsible driver could become the target of a lawsuit, one that the other motorist had initiated.

What are a motorist’s options in a state that does not follow the no-fault system?

If the motorist that had become the victim of an uninsured driver had purchased an uninsured motorist option, then he/she would have a right to seek coverage from the company that had sold that same option.

Still, a policyholder’s right to seek coverage would not guarantee the achievement of a fair settlement. The insurance company might claim the existence of shared fault. That would reduce the amount of money that the insurer owed to the policyholder.

Those motorists that had failed to buy the available option would need to gather information on the extent of the defendant’s assets. In order to accomplish that task, a victimized motorist ought to consult with and hire a personal injury lawyer in Lincoln.

Both time and effort are required, in order to determine whether or not the size of the defendant’s assets warrant pursuit of a lawsuit. A lawyer’s experience could guide someone that needed to make such a determination.

A personal injury attorney might be able to alert the victimized motorist to the existence of damages that the victim had overlooked. By the same token, that attorney’s experience could help with seeking an extension of the deadline for filing a lawsuit.

What could be the advantage to an extension of the deadline for filing a lawsuit?

Insurance companies have mastered the skills required, in order to utilize delaying tactics. Those companies realize that a series of delays could keep a potential plaintiff from going forward with a considered lawsuit.

Yet those tactics only work if the opposing party lacks a familiarity with the claims process. Lawyers, however, have gained a strong familiarity with that particular process.

That is why smart accident victims make a point of consulting with more than one attorney, and then hiring one of those that have been consulted. That approach normally yields better results than any decision to attempt a DIY approach.

More to explorer