Motor vehicle insurance coverage helps limit your liability after a crash. If you are the one at fault for a wreck, then your policy helps cover the expenses of the other party. Property damage coverage can pay to repair or even replace a vehicle, well bodily injury coverage can help pay for hospital bills and cover someone’s lost wages.
Your insurance pays so that you can avoid personal liability for those expenses, and you may have invested in several times more coverage than what Missouri state law requires because you want to protect your assets and future income from claims after a car crash.
The problem with a liability-based insurance program like the system in Missouri is that your protection after a collision largely depends on the responsibility of the other driver. If you get into a crash with someone who doesn’t have insurance or who has a very bad policy, the crash could cost you tens of thousands of dollars.
How do you cover those costs when the other driver’s insurance won’t pay?
You may have grounds to take the driver who caused your wreck to court. It is against the law to drive without insurance, and if someone caused a crash, they may have violated other traffic laws as well.
Missouri law permits those affected by the law breaking or negligence of others to file a civil lawsuit to recover those losses. The more bills you have that their insurance policy won’t cover, the greater the amount of compensation you can request in your personal injury lawsuit. A judge could award you damages for the losses you suffered.
Can you use your own policy?
Your insurance policy could offer some protection if you carry special coverage. Many drivers in Missouri invest in uninsured and underinsured motorist protection. If your policy includes such coverage, you can make a claim against your own insurance policy despite the other driver’s fault for the crash.
The downside to making a claim against your own coverage is that it will likely increase how much you pay for your policy in the future. Understanding that you have the right to expect appropriate compensation after a car wreck can help you hold the right party accountable for the crash instead of absorbing those losses yourself.