Do I Have a Car Accident Case if I Don’t Have Insurance?
State laws require vehicle owners to purchase automobile insurance. The most common type of required automobile insurance is referred to as liability coverage, and it covers damage caused by the driver responsible for the wreck. If you have been injured in a car accident that was not your fault, it is imperative that the other driver has liability automobile insurance, not necessarily you. For example, the State of Tennessee requires owners to carry liability automobile insurance, and the minimum amount that is required provides up to $25,000.00 per person involved in a single auto accident and $50,000.00 total in a single accident, no matter how many people are involved. Even if you receive a ticket for not carrying car insurance, you still may pursue a civil claim for your bodily injuries, medical bills, time off work, and other damages caused by the car wreck.
How Do I Know If the At-Fault Party Has Insurance?
After ensuring that everyone is safe, the next thing you want to do is to obtain the insurance information of the person who caused the accident. The most efficient and safest way to do this is to call your local police. Once police arrive on the scene, they will obtain all insurance information and place it in a police report that should be available within a few days. Allowing the police to come to the scene not only ensures that insurance information is obtained, but also that an accurate description of the accident is documented. The police will also obtain and document the contact information of any witnesses. This lowers the likelihood of an insurance dispute arising.
However, the police are not always able to respond to auto accidents. This typically, occurs when the accident has happened on private property or during severe weather like ice. If this is the circumstance, it will be your responsibility to obtain the insurance information from the at-fault driver. There are many ways that this can be done, but in this age of technology the simplest way will be to snap a photo of the other driver’s insurance card and driver’s license. Your car accident attorney, in Memphis or elsewhere, will be able to take that information and conduct a thorough investigation to locate insurance.
Some at-fault drivers may not be willing to release their insurance information. If this is the case, it is imperative that you get as much information about or from them as possible. License plate information, make and model of the vehicle, logos on the vehicle, location of the damage, and the driver’s name can all be used by our team of dedicated Memphis car accident attorneys and staff to investigate and locate insurance.
What If the Other Driver Does Not Have Car Insurance?
If the at-fault party does not have insurance, all hope is not lost. Along with liability coverage, there is also uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage protects the policyholder and their passengers and often times extends to household members of the policyholder. This means that if you are a passenger in a vehicle that is involved in an auto accident where the at-fault party does not have insurance, but your driver has uninsured motorist coverage, you will be able to recover for your damages. This also may apply when you are driving someone else’s vehicle that has uninsured motorist coverage on their automobile insurance. In certain circumstances you may also be able to make use of the uninsured motorist coverage of a person that you live with. Unlike liability coverage, the policyholder may not be penalized for making use of the uninsured motorist coverage included in their automobile insurance, depending on the state. For instance, Tennessee law states a policyholder’s rates shall not increase solely for making an uninsured motorist claim. Contact one of our local personal injury attorneys to determine if you have an uninsured motorist claim.
Learn More About Your Rights by Speaking with Our Personal Injury Attorneys
Determining if the person who caused your accident has insurance can be time consuming and daunting. Finding insurance is the first step in determining if you will be compensated for your injuries. Even if you don’t have insurance of your own, all hope is not lost. At Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, we serve injured victims in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky, including cities like Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, Jackson, Tupelo, Oxford, Hattiesburg, Little Rock, Jonesboro, Cape Girardeau, Hayti, Caruthersville, and Paducah. For a free consultation with one of our car accident lawyers today, complete our online form or call 800-529-4004. After speaking with us, you will see that NST is the way to go.