The Role of Car Insurance in a Car Accident Case

The Importance of Car Insurance

You may be wondering how car insurance or lack thereof will affect your car accident case and your potential compensation should you win. Car insurance is very important in an accident as it helps determine maximum compensation possibilities, who to file the personal injury suit against, possible sources of additional compensation, and overall proceedings of the case. Being aware of how these things work will make your case run more smoothly.

Liability Insurance Coverage and Its Limitations

The standard type of car insurance people use around the United States is liability insurance. This type of insurance covers a negligent party who has made some sort of mistake or error on the road that has resulted in the accident. These types of insurance have maximum coverage policies. In a sense they will limit just how much they are willing to cover you for your mistakes on the road.

Because of this, there can be some limitations for victims of car accidents who need to sue someone with this type of insurance. Depending on the policy they decided on will decide your possible compensation. If their policy only covers up to $100,000 and your medical costs and damages total over $200,000 for instance, you can still only receive $100,000 from the negligent party’s insurance company. If demands for more occur, you will often have to work with your attorney to sue additional parties (where possible) to get the remaining coverage you need. This could include going after the negligent party’s personal assets, suing the car company if a faulty part was partially to blame, etc. There is also underinsured coverage available.

Underinsured Negligent Parties

There are insurance policies in place to protect you from the limitations of liability insurance. Should you require more compensation than a liability insurance policy can dish out as its maximum, there is often coverage in place with your own insurance to protect you from these instances so you can actually get the money you deserve with your case. The only limitation to this insurance is that the maximum coverage policy for it must exceed the maximum coverage for the negligent party you sued that cannot fully cover your costs. Otherwise this route won’t help you.

Uninsured Negligent Parties

In more rare instances, a driver may have been on the road illegally and not covered by insurance at all. This can be a serious problem as there is then seemingly a missing party to sue that actually has the funds to cover your costs from the accident. Luckily, most car insurance policies come with at least a small uninsured coverage policy in place to protect you. So instead of making a case against the negligent party’s insurance, you would settle with your own insurance company.

Contact an Erie Personal Injury Lawyer to Discuss Your Car Accident Case in Pennsylvania

Did you or a loved one sustain serious injuries due to a car accident in Pennsylvania? Don’t let the medical bills pile up while you wait for the negligent party or their insurance company to do the right thing. Right now, you need an aggressive personal injury attorney on your side, fighting to get you the compensation you need, want, and deserve. The skilled attorneys at Purchase, George & Murphey, P.C. represent clients injured because of car accidents in Erie, Millcreek, Harborcreek, Fairview and throughout Pennsylvania. Call (814) 273-2010 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation about your case. We have an office conveniently located at 2525 W 26th St, Erie, PA 16506, as well as offices in Meadville and North East.

The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.