What to Do If You’re Hit By a Driver With No Insurance

This video features J.D. Smith, a Personal Injury attorney based in Washington.

JD Smith | 888-981-0015 | Free Consult

Being in a car accident is already an unsettling experience, but what if you’re hit by a driver with no insurance or very little insurance? It can be daunting to consider how you’re going to pay your medical bills, not to mention vehicular damages. If you have uninsured motorist (UIM) coverage in your insurance plan, you can still be in good shape after an accident of this sort.

This video features JD Smith, a car accident attorney in Seattle with the Law Office of JD Smith, PLLC. He has been a Super Lawyer from 2007 to 2019, and he was the recipient of the Professionalism Award from the Washington State Association of Justice. He is also a former insurance claims representative, so he knows all the tricks the insurance companies use to protect their own interests.

To learn more, contact the attorney directly by calling 888-981-0015 or by submitting a contact form on this page. The consultation is free and confidential, and you owe no out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Some states require you to have uninsured motorist coverage.

UIM coverage is to be used in the situation where the at-fault driver is lacking insurance either partially or in full and cannot compensate you for your medical and/or vehicular damages. Having UIM coverage is like having Personal Injury Protection (PIP) or Medical Payments (MedPay) insurance, which can also help pay for medical services immediately after an accident. In some states, it’s not required to have UIM coverage as a part of your insurance plan, but it’s important to seriously consider adding it. In other places, it is a requirement, but it can be waived, which—again—could have some serious consequences.

In some states, you can waive UIM coverage, but it’s not recommended.

UIM coverage provides you with an effective safeguard against uninsured drivers. This way, if you and your possible passengers are in an accident and cannot pay your medical bills or cost of vehicle damages, you have an avenue through which to pursue compensation. Otherwise, the alternative involves taking legal action against the uninsured driver, which has potential for a positive outcome but will not provide you with the immediate help that having UIM coverage would.

Maybe you’re simply curious as to how UIM coverage works.

Upon your acceptance of UIM coverage in your insurance policy, your insurance company may choose to go after the at-fault party to recoup their own losses.

This saves you the time and effort of a lawsuit, allowing you to get the help you need from your insurance company right away. Your medical bills and vehicular damages can be compensated, without the headache of taking legal action yourself. While you could file a claim against the uninsured driver, doing so would be a much more roundabout way for you to recoup your losses. Making sure you have UIM coverage included in your insurance policy is one of the best things you can do to protect yourself and your passengers in the case of a collision with an uninsured/underinsured motorist.

To learn more, contact JD Smith directly by calling 888-981-0015 or by submitting a contact form on this page. The consultation is free and confidential, and you owe no out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Video Transcript:

Rob Rosenthal:
Here’s a Quick Question. I'm Rob Rosenthal from AskTheLawyers.com™. What do you do if a driver who ran into you doesn't have enough insurance? Here's what Seattle attorney JD Smith said.

JD Smith:
Like PIP and med pay, uninsured motorists or often called UIM is a required coverage in Washington, but it can be waived like with PIP. I would urge you not to waive the UIM coverage because when a driver doesn’t have insurance or enough insurance, your insurance company stands in the shoes of that at-fault driver and all the damages that would be available based on the conduct of the bad driver or at-fault driver, your own insurance company would pay those and then they themselves can decide if they have any recourse, if they want to go after the person. Most of the time they don’t. But it allows you to be compensated and you don’t have to be a collection agency to chase the person that caused harm to you.

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