Key Concepts That Relate To Auto Insurance And Car Accidents

Car owners purchase automobile insurance, in order to limit the financial effect of a possible car accident. What level of coverage does an insurance company give to a policyholder with a personal injury claim?

Details on coverage provided by an automobile insurance policy

In all states, the losses that have resulted from an accident caused by someone else’s negligence would be covered. In some states, the losses that have been caused by reckless driving would also be covered.In no state would an auto insurance policy guarantee coverage of losses that had been caused by intentional or criminal conduct. Hence, an incident that occurred while someone was using the insured vehicle without authorization would not be covered.

Optional coverage

Most auto insurance policies offer limited coverage for losses that were caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver. Policyholders can also purchase an added level of coverage. At the time of an accident, the option with regard to underinsured drivers must be greater than the limits of any responsible and underinsured driver; otherwise, the insured driver’s losses will not be covered.

Details about claims made by policyholders

Each policy states the limit to which the policyholder and the insurance company have agreed. Consequently, policyholders have no right to claim a loss that has a value that exceeds their policy’s limit. That limit is the maximum amount of money that can be given to the policyholder, in the way of compensation. The limit makes clear the extent of coverage that has been guaranteed to the holder of a given policy. Someone that has chosen to buy optional coverage, with respect to uninsured and underinsured drivers, cannot have more coverage in either option than the amount promised by the policy’s standard liability coverage.

Steps that help an insured driver to secure coverage, following an accident

If the responsible driver were to leave the scene of the incident before the police arrived, then it would become the other driver’s responsibility to record the number on the license plate of that fleeing driver’s vehicle. That same number could then be given to the police.

If the police failed to find the driver that left the scene, the insured driver would have an alternate way to seek compensation for any losses, with the help of a personal injury lawyer in London. That alternate method would involve making an uninsured motorist claim. That would need to be a first party claim, rather than a third-party claim. Of course, that alternate method could only be used in specific situations. It could not be used if the level of damage that had been suffered by the insured motorist exceeded the limit, which had been stated in the documents that spelled out the terms for the uninsured motorist coverage.