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Can I sue an uninsured driver? - YouTube
Channel: LawFull
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there are millions of uninsured drivers
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driving around our country right now
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it's unavoidable if you get hit by an
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uninsured driver can you file a lawsuit
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against them to recover for your damages
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sure you can but is it worth it watch
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this video to find out more hi barry
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here with the lawful channel on this
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channel you're gonna find short videos
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on the legal topics that affect our
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lives if you haven't subscribed yet
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any questions or comments on any legal
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issues or matters feel free to reach out
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to me if I can't help you I'll find
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someone who can according to the
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Insurance Information Institute around
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13% of all drivers driving on the road
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are uninsured
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there are around 220 million licensed
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drivers in the United States that means
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there are around 28 million uninsured
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drivers driving in our country 28
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million that's a huge number and it's a
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little bit hard to digest so I looked at
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my home state the state of Illinois and
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here we have around 8 and a half million
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licensed drivers that means about 1.1
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million people in the state of Illinois
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are driving around without auto
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insurance so what does that mean for you
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it means that every time you get in your
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car you are at risk for getting hit by
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somebody who does not have any auto
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insurance by the way are you wondering
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what state has the highest level of
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uninsured drivers according to a CBS
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news story
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I watched it's Florida in Florida around
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27%
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of all drivers are uninsured that's over
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one in four so the next time you're
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driving around in Florida look around of
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the four cars that are around you one of
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them doesn't have an insurance that's a
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huge number and a little bit hard to
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fathom so the question of the day is if
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you do get hit by an uninsured driver
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can you sue them well the quick answer
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is sure you can sue anybody for just
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about anything but the question is is it
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really worth it you can file a lawsuit
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for
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sensation and to recover for your
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damages but if somebody doesn't have
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auto insurance it's very likely they
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don't have the assets or financial
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resources to compensate you for your
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injuries so if you are involved in an
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accident and the driver tells you that
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they don't have any insurance the first
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thing you do is you don't just take
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their word for it take down their
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license plate number their driver's
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license number get all their contact
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information and provide that to your
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insurance company because your insurance
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company likely has the resources to go
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onto the Internet or onto their software
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and determine if this person really is
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uninsured a second scenario where this
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often happens is that somebody had auto
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insurance but it lapsed they forgot to
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pay the bill he got lost in the mail
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whatever it is if that's the case don't
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just take the insurance company's word
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for it that the policy of the guy who
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hit you lapsed make them document it in
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writing and frankly if you have
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uninsured motorist coverage you're gonna
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have to provide that documentation and
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that proof to your insurance company to
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get them to pick up the bill anyways so
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you have determined that the driver who
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hit you does not have any auto insurance
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what do you do well there are a couple
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situations where I have advised many
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people to go ahead and file a lawsuit
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against the uninsured driver the first
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situation occurs when both parties to
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the accident you and the other driver
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are both uninsured if you're confident
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that you are not at fault for the
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accident there is no harm in you filing
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a lawsuit in small claims court now most
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jurisdictions have a small claims court
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it's where these minor accidents go to
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be adjudicated in Illinois for example
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if your case is worth less than $10,000
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you can file a claim in small claims
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court this is exactly what small claims
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court is meant for minor cases that can
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be resolved between people in front of
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the judge so you file your suit at small
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claims court it'll cost you a couple of
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hundred dollars to file your lawsuit and
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it'll cost you some additional money to
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have your lawsuit served or deliver to
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the defendant or the person who caused
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the accident
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the likelihood of recovering is 50/50
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right the judge is either gonna find for
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you or not the real challenge is not in
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establishing liability or responsibility
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for the accident
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the real challenge is actually
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recovering after a judgment is entered
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in your favor the other type of claims
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that I often advise people to go ahead
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and file a lawsuit in small claims court
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on involve minor accidents usually
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involving primarily property damage and
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what happens is the innocent party or
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the victim gets hit and the innocent
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party has liability insurance meaning
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they're covered if they caused the
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accident and they may even have
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uninsured motorist but they don't have
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something called collision coverage
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meaning the other driver didn't have
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insurance and you don't have insurance
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on your policy to pay for your property
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damage in that case it makes sense to
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file suit maybe you've only got a couple
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thousand dollars in damage and filing
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suit against the defendant will spur
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them to compensating you are paying you
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for your damages a couple of suggestions
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before you file your lawsuit get your
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ducks in a row obtain the estimates to
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repair your car or have the receipts for
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the repairs that were already made and
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obtain your medical records and your
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medical bills from your providers if
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there were any a judge is not going to
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compensate you for your damages just
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based on your word you have to have
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evidence to support your claims if you
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do decide to file a lawsuit in small
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claims court do a little homework the
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rules of evidence in small claims court
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are very relaxed just the evidence of
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your bills and receipts are going to be
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enough for the judge but if you don't
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know the process and how things work
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you're gonna struggle in front of the
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judge and you want to be completely
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prepared for your hearing okay so we
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have determined that you can in fact
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file a lawsuit against an uninsured
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driver but that's really a last resort
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what can you do to prevent this
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situation altogether and prevent I don't
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mean avoid getting hit what I mean is
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how do you protect yourself before the
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accident even happens and by that I'm
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referring to having enough of the right
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type of insurance I'm specifically
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talking about uninsured motorist
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coverage underinsured motorist coverage
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and collision coverage every state has
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their own rules of
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how much insurance you have to have and
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every insurance company offers a
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different solution so do your research
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in Illinois for example our state
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requires a minimum of twenty five
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thousand dollars in insurance which
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means you're protected up to twenty five
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thousand dollars if you hit somebody
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else in addition you automatically have
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$25,000 in uninsured and underinsured
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motorist protection though it doesn't
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mean that you have collision coverage
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your state may have different
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requirements by the way if the other
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driver is uninsured and you are forced
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to file a claim against your uninsured
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or underinsured motorist coverage
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be aware that your insurance company
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immediately becomes adverse just as
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though you were filing a claim against
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the defendants auto insurance policy so
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how much uninsured motorist coverage
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should you get people always tell me
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well I have full coverage but what does
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that mean I always recommend that people
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get at least a hundred thousand dollars
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in uninsured and underinsured motorist
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coverage if you get involved in a bad
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accident then having a twenty-five
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thousand dollar insurance policy is not
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going to help you very much that twenty
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five thousand dollars could be gone
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before you even get out of the hospital
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okay it's time for your take on the law
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were you involved in an accident with an
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uninsured driver what did you do did you
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file a lawsuit against the driver or did
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you file a claim against your own
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uninsured motorist coverage tell us
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about it in the comments below thanks
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for checking out this video for more
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legal videos on topics like this please
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consider subscribing to our Channel and
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if you have any questions or comments
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reach out to me if I can't help you I'll
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find someone who can
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