Uninsured Motorists

If you have been involved in a car accident with an uninvolved motorist, you may be wondering what the next steps are to be sure that your medical expenses are covered. Hopefully, you have purchased uninsured motorists coverage on your own insurance policy, which protects you from financial damages if you are unable to recover payment from the other driver. Unfortunately for a motorcycle driver, motorcycle crashes are found to have much worse injuries than car accidents, meaning your injuries may be much more costly.

Read more below about how important uninsured motorist coverage is, and contact us today if you would like to understand more about your legal options following a motorcycle accident in Winter Park.

Do I Need Uninsured Motorist Coverage?

You are not required to have Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida, but it is definitely a good idea to have it attached to your policy. In the event that you are struck and injured by an uninsured motorist, this addendum to your policy will cover your medical bills and injuries. It also issues that could arise if you were struck by an underinsured motorist after their coverage has been exhausted. Otherwise, you run the risk of being stuck with the bill.

What Happens If You Are In an Accident With An Uninsured Motorist?

Unfortunately, Florida has the highest rate of uninsured motorists in the country, coming in at 26.7% in a 2015 study. This means that you have a 1 in 4 chance of being involved in an accident with someone who will not have an insurance company to pursue a claim with. For a motorcycle accident in Winter Park, a crash without reimbursement can cause serious financial issues for the driver. In the event of an accident, there are two things that could happen:

With Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Depending on your policy amount, you will be able to receive coverage for your medical expenses, lost wages, as well as any long-term injuries that you sustain. The premiums for UM coverage are fairly low, and can save you from having your whole life turned upside down because of someone else’s lack of responsibility and decision to not get insurance.

If you are working on settling a claim with your UM coverage, we can help you deal with this process and make sure that you are requesting payments for everything that you are entitled to.

Without Uninsured Motorist Coverage

If you have declined UM coverage, you will be able to collect up to the maximum of your Personal Injury Protection policy, which is mandatory in Florida. After you have passed the $10,000 repayment for your PIP, you will need to seek damages from the other driver.

Since there is no insurance company to file a lawsuit against, there is no guarantee that the person is actually able to pay any damages. In some cases, you may collect some money if the court garnishes wages, takes tax refunds, or finds other ways to give you some of the money you were awarded. If the other person does not have the money, property, or other assets to make their payment to you though, there really is nothing that you can do.

Contact Us Today If You Have Been In an Accident With an Uninsured Motorist

If you have been injured in an accident, and the other driver did not have insurance, contact us immediately to schedule your free initial consultation. We will go through your situation, understand your options, and decide with you how best to move forward in recovering the damages you are owed. We can do this by either helping you navigate your PIP and UM coverage, or by beginning to create a strategy to recover damages directly from the individual who caused your accident and injuries.