If I was in a car accident and the other driver is at fault but uninsured, will my insurance cover my damages?

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If I was in a car accident and the other driver is at fault but uninsured, will my insurance cover my damages?

My car was in repossession status but has now been charged off.

Asked on May 12, 2015 under Accident Law, Nevada

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 8 years ago | Contributor

Insurance is a contract: your insurer has to pay whatever it contractually agreed to pay you in your policy, for the coverage you bought--and it does not have to pay anything not in your policy. So the question is, do you have applicable coverage? Did you purchase collision coverage? Uninsured motorist coverage? If so, you may be covered. If not, if you only had liability coverage (which protects other people, not you), then no--your insurance will not cover your damages.

You can, of course, try to sue the at-fault driver--not having insurance doesn't mean he can't be sued; it "just" means he doesn't have insurance to pay for him. However, if he's uninsured, that's most likely because he can't afford insurance, or else has no assets or income worth protecting with insurance, so a lawsuit may well not result in any payment, even if win.

S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 8 years ago | Contributor

If you have uninsured motorist coverage on your auto insurance policy, you can file an uninsured motorist claim with your company to recover your damages.

If you don't have uninsured motorist coverage, your only recourse is to sue the at-fault party for negligence.  After obtaining a court judgment against the at-fault party, you can enforce the judgment with a wage garnishment to recover your damages.


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