While you may always make sure your car is fully insured before hitting the road, sadly, not everyone does. Being involved in a car accident can be at best annoying and devastating at worst. What should you do next if you discover that the at-fault driver does not have car insurance?
Is it possible to still make a claim for compensation?
Make a claim through your own insurance
Once you’re safely away from the scene of the accident, you should notify your insurance of what’s happened. In New York, you have to make a claim via your own insurance before you can do anything else. This approach is referred to as “No-Fault” insurance rules and is the process regardless of whether the accident was the fault of the other party or not.
Once you notify your insurer, they will help you to put together your claim, based on evidence, for the compensation you need. How much you’ll be able to recover will depend on the severity of the accident and your policy limits. If you purchased uninsured motorist coverage when you took out your insurance policy, you can also use this to claim for more compensation if your insurance limits do not meet your needs.
You can sue the driver of the vehicle
You may also be able to file a civil personal injury claim against the uninsured driver. Of course, the success of this approach depends on whether the driver has the funds to make any payment you are awarded. It’s important to keep in mind that the driver may not have insurance because they can’t afford it. This may indicate that it’s unlikely they’ll have the money to pay you damages.
Just because the other driver has no insurance doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to compensation. The process is, however, often more complicated and is best tackled by a legal professional with experience in pursuing maximum compensation on behalf of injury victims.