Car Accident with an Uninsured Driver

Answer:

One situation we deal with when handling personal injury cases in Georgia, especially in the Metro Atlanta area, is when the at-fault driver does not have insurance or doesn’t have enough insurance. This is a very common occurrence. Even though Georgia law requires a minimum level of at-fault insurance, there are many, many drivers that don’t have them. Another circumstance where this comes up is if someone has minimal coverage but the person that they’ve harmed has significant injuries. This is why it is imperative that you protect yourself with uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. This is coverage that you buy on your own automobile policy that protects you against types of claims when there’s not enough insurance on the other side to compensate you.

Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is not expensive, and it can be added through your agent, covering you up to an amount that you choose. For example, in one of the first personal injury cases I had, a man was hit by a vehicle that only had a $25,000 policy of coverage. This man had an initial ER bill of over $280,000. He did not have uninsured motorist coverage, so the most we were able to recover for him was the other driver’s $25,000 policy. That left him with a lot of bills to negotiate on his own and no recovery for his personal injury.

Please make sure that you speak with your insurance agent and make sure your policy contains uninsured or underinsured coverage. If you have a question about areas where you can be compensated for a personal injury claim, even if the at-fault driver didn’t have coverage, please give us a call so we can help you through the process.