Being in a car accident can be scary and stressful. Once you figure out the cause of the accident and what happened, you will know who the at fault party is, or who was negligent in the accident. This is typically determined through an official police report. If there was no report, your insurance company should do the research necessary to find who was at fault (especially if you claim that was not you). There are a lot of different pieces that have to come together when trying to figure out what gets covered when you are not at fault in a car accident.
What To Do First
When you are in a car accident, make sure that you immediately file a police report, especially when you feel that you are not at fault. The police will be able to make an official report that includes your statement, any witnesses that were around, the other party, and they will also be there to record any immediate injuries. This is an important step to establish that you are not at fault in a car accident, and to protect yourself from being responsible for any property or medical bills that you may incur from it.
Make sure that you have all of the insurance information from the other personnel involved as well so that when it comes time to establish who is at fault, you have the ability to provide the insurance company with all of the necessary information.
Insurance
When you are not at fault in a car accident, the at-fault person should have insurance that is called “liability insurance”. This insurance will cover your majority medical expenses, as well as damages to your vehicle and/or your personal property. This will occur as long as you don’t live in a no-fault state. A no-fault state is where the state requires that anyone who was in the car accident to file a claim through their insurance regardless of who was at fault in the accident.
If it happens that the person who is at fault in your accident does not have insurance, you can file a claim with your own insurance to aid in covering the expenses that the at fault party would normally cover. This is typically through something called an “uninsured motorist claim”. You may also need your insurance to file the report with the at fault party and their insurance, as sometimes they do not.
At times, you may have to pay upfront costs for through your insurance called the deductible. Once you are found to be the party that is not at fault, your insurance company will normally refund that deductible back to you.
Finding out what gets covered when you are not at fault in a car accident is extremely important, to keep yourself from unwanted expenses and stress. If you have been in an accident and are in need of a personal injury attorney, please contact us so that we can help.
