Can I sue an uninsured driver?

Can I sue an uninsured driver?

There are millions of uninsured drivers driving on the road right now. If you get hit by an uninsured driver, you might be wondering, can I sue the uninsured driver? In a word: Yes. You can sue an uninsured driver. But the bigger question is – is it worth it? Check out this video learn more.

Hi, Barry Zlotowicz with the LawFull channel. I am a Chicago personal injury attorney. I spend most of my time handling auto accidents. A lot of those cases involve uninsured drivers. As such, I get asked whether my clients can sue an insured driver.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, around 13% of all drivers driving on the road are uninsured. There are around 220 million licensed drivers in the United States. That means there are around 28 million uninsured drivers driving in our country.

In my home state of Illinois, there are approximately 8,500,000 licensed drivers. That means, there are over 1.1 million uninsured drivers in Illinois.

What does that mean for you? Well, it means that you are at risk of getting hit by someone with no auto insurance every time you get in your car.

By the way, the state with the highest level of uninsured drivers? It’s Florida where it is estimated that 27% of all drivers are uninsured according to a story by CBS News. That’s over 1 in 4 drivers. Next time you’re driving in Florida, look around. Out of the 4 cars driving around you, 1 of them does not have insurance.

So if you get hit by an uninsured driver, you can sue them. The problem is, if the uninsured driver doesn’t have the resources to buy auto insurance, they probably don’t have enough money or financial assets to compensate you for your damages.

So if you do get hit, what do you do? First, you do not just take the driver’s word at the scene of the accident that he or she is uninsured. Take down his/her driver’s license number, license plate number and contact information. Provide that to your auto insurance company which has access to resources to determine if the driver was actually uninsured.

Second, it may be that the driver had insurance but it lapsed prior to the accident. This is a very common scenario. In that case, still file a claim with the defendant’s auto insurance company. Do not just take his/her insurance company’s word that the driver is uninsured. Make them provide you a letter documenting the fact that the driver is uninsured. Your insurance company will likely require that before they compensate you anyways.

So you’ve determined that the driver doesn’t have insurance. There are a couple situations where I have recommended that people file a lawsuit against the uninsured driver:

1. First, when both parties are uninsured. In Illinois if your damages are under $10,000 you can use small claims court.

2. The other situation where I’ve seen a lot of people file suit is in a case where the innocent party has liability insurance (in case they caused the accident) and they may even have uninsured motorist. But they don’t have collision coverage to get the damage to your car fixed.

In this case you might as well file and see if you can recover anything from the defendant by filing in small claims court.

So we’ve determined that you can file a lawsuit an uninsured driver. But the most important thing you can do, is to avoid this situation altogether. Make sure you have the right and enough auto insurance to protect you. You cannot control what insurance the other guy has, but you can control what you have

I’m specifically talking about having enough uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and also collision coverage. Every state has their own rules about uninsured coverage – or UM coverage.

For example, in Illinois, if you have liability coverage, then you also automatically have UM coverage. If the driver who hit you is uninsured, you can seek reimbursement for your medical bills and your pain and suffering from your own insurance. Although you may not have collision coverage.

When you seek compensation from your own insurance company, you become adverse – meaning, your insurance carrier will try and pay you as little as they can just as if you were the opposing party.

So how much uninsured motorist coverage should you have? People always think they have full coverage. Usually that means they have the minimum amount of insurance. The minimum amount is no close to enough insurance. If you are able, I always recommend that drivers have at least $100,000 in uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and collision coverage. If you get in a serious accident, $25,000 might not even cover your medical expenses let alone compensate you for your pain and suffering.

Thanks for checking out this video. Please consider subscribing to our channel. And if you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to me, if I can’t help you, I will find someone who can.

info@legalvlogger.com
www.chicagolegalgroup.com

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