Answer:

The other day we were asked by a client, “What if the individual that hit me in my car accident doesn’t have insurance?” We explained to them there’s a lot of investigation that needs to be done to determine the answer to that question. The first thing that needs to be done is to do an asset check on that individual and determine whether or not they have any assets. Just because a person doesn’t have insurance, they might have assets and it might still be worth pursuing that claim against them personally.

The next thing is to determine whether or not that person was working for someone at the time of the incident. If that person was working in what we call the scope and course of their employment, their employer could be responsible for their negligence and we could still pursue a claim – even though that individual didn’t have insurance – against the company itself. Another thing to determine is who actually owned the vehicle. Just because the driver may not have insurance, the owner of the vehicle could have insurance. If someone is driving another person’s vehicle, the owner is responsible and would be liable for any negligence that person caused.

Also, we look at our client’s own policy. People can buy what’s called uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage that protects them when they’re hit and injured by someone who has no insurance or not enough insurance. We check their policy to determine if they have that insurance. If they don’t have it, did the insurance company reject it appropriately and properly? If it’s not rejected appropriately, we can also get coverage for them under their own policy.

There’s a lot of investigation that we do to determine all those factors and to make sure there’s really no coverage out there or no assets to pursue. If you have any questions about this or any other issues, please contact us. Our consultation is always free and we’d love to help you.