Legally speaking, car accidents can be very complicated. This is especially true when one of the cars involved was being driven by someone other than its rightful owner. It’s not always immediately clear whose insurance is pertinent to the accident. The car may be insured with one company, and the driver with another. The two policies may be very different from one another, and there may not be enough coverage under just one of them to fully reimburse everyone involved for any medical or repair expenses.
Handling this type of issue isn’t going to be easy, and turning to an experienced California car accident attorney is the best way of making sure it’s dealt with correctly and professionally. We can help determine who is at fault in the accident, as well as which insurance company should be responsible for the damages, and negotiate with them in order to secure the monetary compensation that deserved.
In most cases, when a car is involved in an accident, it’s the car owner’s insurance policy that is responsible for the damages, rather than the drivers. Most insurance policies are intended to cover immediate family members, even if they aren’t listed as owners of the vehicles. In most car accidents where a non-owner was driving, it was a family member behind the wheel instead.
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However, there are some situations in which the driver’s insurance is responsible, rather than the owner’s. For instance, if the owner’s insurance has a policy limit lower than the total amount of expenses than need to be covered, then the remaining balance should be taken care of by the driver’s policy. While liability coverage is a legal requirement for all drivers, the total amount of coverage can still be too low, and may not be enough to cover all of the medical and mechanical expenses incurred in the accident.
Sometimes, the driver of the car didn’t have permission from the owner to be driving, in which case they are solely responsible for any accidents or damages caused while behind the wheel. This may not necessarily mean the car was stolen but it depends on how the car was stolen and caused injuries. A friend or extended family member may have made an assumption that borrowing the vehicle would be ok, and took it without expressed permission from the owner.
Additionally, in situations where the car owner does not have any insurance, then the driver would also be personally responsible.
Clearly, this type of situation can be very complex, and difficult to navigate on your own. Even the process of determining whether or not the driver had permission can be challenging, and that needs to be done before the negotiation process with the insurance companies begins. Then, the complicated restrictions and limitations on the individual insurance policies need to be examined, and fault determined.
Rather than attempting to manage this difficult situation on our own, let an experienced California car accident attorney help. We know the best strategies to use when working with insurance companies, and have handled different types of accidents before. We’ll do everything possible to ensure you’re compensated for your injuries and damaged property, including past and future medical expenses, lost wages due to disability, as well as for your pain and suffering. If you or a loved one have been injured in an accident where the other vehicle was not being driven by its owner contact us today for a free consultation.
Allen Vaysberg practices personal injury law and works tirelessly to defeat the tactics of insurance companies and large corporations who try to deny justice and fair compensation to injured people.