The unfortunate fact is that you are never able to control who you are involved in a car accident with on the road. The hope is that the other driver has both a license and car insurance. If the other driver was unlicensed, you should not draw any assumptions that you would not be able to be paid for your injuries. However, you are dealing with a more difficult legal situation that would potentially involve your own insurance company. Anytime that you are dealing with an insurance company, you need help from an experienced car accident lawyer to obtain the best possible result.
Will Another Insurance Company Pay for Your Damages?
A driver may be unlicensed for a number of reasons. One of them could be that they lost their permission to drive because their license was suspended for traffic offenses. Here, the driver may still have a car insurance policy that may potentially cover the accident damages. However, the insurance company may balk at paying a settlement when their driver did not have the right to be behind the wheel in the first place. They may still deny your claim and force you to sue the driver. You may be able to legally fight with the insurance company to force them to pay the claim.
What Happens if the Other Driver Has No Insurance?
If the driver did not have car insurance, how you are paid is an entirely different matter. You would need to turn to your own car insurance company to be compensated for your injuries. In general, New Jersey is a “no-fault” state, so you could be paid for the cost of your medical bills and the lost wages that you would have earned from working. You may have a low PIP limit, so you are only paid for a fraction of your damages. Thus, you must have another type of coverage that would cover more of your damages.
Under New Jersey law, your car insurance company is required to offer you uninsured motorist coverage. This coverage would pay for your damages when the other driver did not have insurance, or you were the victim of a hit-and-run. Your car insurance company is legally obligated to offer you this coverage when you pay for your policy. If the driver did not have insurance, you would need to turn to your own insurance company for a settlement.
How Will My Insurance Company Respond to an Uninsured Motorist Claim?
Just because you have paid premiums and you are a customer does not mean that your insurance company is going to willingly pay you all of the money that you deserve. They would still want to know that the other driver was at fault for the accident, and they may make you lowball settlement offers. You would still need to negotiate with your insurance company the same as you would with that of another driver. For that, you need the help of an experienced car accident lawyer who can put legal pressure on them to pay you what they owe you.
The fact that a driver did not have a license does not automatically mean that they are to blame for the crash. Regardless of the other facts, you still have a legal obligation to prove negligence before you qualify for compensation beyond that which you may receive as part of your personal injury protection. If you were to blame for the accident yourself, you would not receive a full settlement check just because the driver was breaking the law in another way. Accordingly, it is essential to hire a car accident lawyer right after the crash, so they can gather the available evidence that you need to prove liability.
Contact the Cherry Hill Car Accident Lawyers at Pressman, Doyle, Bloom, & York If You Are Seeking Compensation for Your Car Crash Injuries
If you have been injured in a crash with an unlicensed driver, reach out to the Cherry Hill car accident lawyers at Pressman, Doyle, Bloom, & York. We can evaluate your legal options and pursue compensation on your behalf if you deserve it. To schedule a free consultation, submit our online form or call us today at 856-843-8990. With office locations in Milmont Park, Pennsylvania, and Cherry Hill, New Jersey, we proudly serve clients across New Jersey and Pennsylvania.