You are out for a drive when someone turns into you and wrecks your vehicle, or maybe you are out for a jog when someone hits you, putting you in the hospital for months. Typically, those hurt in a car crash can depend on insurance.
All drivers in Minnesota have to carry a mandatory amount of insurance to legally register their vehicle or drive on public roads. Unfortunately, writing something into law doesn’t immediately mean that people will follow that law. There are still many people who allow their insurance coverage to lapse or who cancel their policies on purpose.
What happens if you get into a crash by a driver with a lapsed or intentionally canceled insurance policy?
Your own insurance policy helps to protect you
Minnesota has more thorough mandatory insurance requirements than many other states. Drivers must carry no-fault coverage. The state expects a driver to carry, at a minimum, $40,000 worth of protection.
There should be $20,000 worth of medical coverage for each person hurt in a Minnesota car crash, along with an additional $20,000 for non-medical losses. This crucial protection allows you to make a claim against your own policy if you get into a crash caused by another driver.
In fact, your policy will protect you and the people in your vehicle from property losses and costs related to physical injuries. Rather than being dependent on someone else’s insurance coverage after a crash, you select and pay for your own level of coverage. As long as you carry at least the minimum required by law, you can decide how much protection you need. You can make a claim against another driver’s liability coverage if you have losses beyond what your policy covers.
Making a claim against your policy will increase what you pay
After a crash with catastrophic losses, such as a vehicle declared a total loss or a severe injury, like a brain injury, the losses you suffer could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Making a claim of that size against your own policy could increase your future insurance costs.
A personal injury lawsuit against the uninsured driver can be a means of recouping those losses without increasing your own insurance premium or covering costs that exceed what your policy will pay. Learning more about the insurance coverage available after a wreck with catastrophic consequences can help you get the compensation you deserve.