Presumably, all uninsured drivers are oddly confident that nothing could ever go wrong. Even if they have managed to go through their entire lives up to this point without being involved in a car accident, uninsured motorist accidents can happen when they are least expected. If this happens, not only will they be in trouble with the law, but they could also seriously injure other people.

When uninsured motorist accidents happen, the at-fault should be held accountable for all of the victim’s injuries and other damages, such as:

• Medical bills
• Lost wages
• Diminished earning capacity
• Emotional anguish
• Permanent injuries
• Physical therapy
• Reduced quality of life
• Loss of fellowship
• Wrongful death

Unfortunately, if the at-fault driver is uninsured, they don’t have a policy that will compensate you for your losses. You could exercise your right to file a personal injury suit, but if the at-fault driver can’t afford their car insurance premiums, they probably don’t have the assets to cover your damages. So, even if the court ruled in your favor, you would still be unable to recover your judgment.

Due to the high percentage of uninsured motorist/underinsured drivers in Orange County, many car accident victims are left to deal with mountains of bills and other losses because of someone else’s irresponsible actions. Keep in mind that paying your bills out of pocket is not your only choice. You might be able to look to your own insurance company for assistance. A skilled UIM motorist accident lawyer from Beckerman Anderson can review your current auto insurance policy and outline all possible sources of compensation.

Insurance laws in California acknowledge the fact that a lack of adequate insurance coverage leaves a lot of other drivers vulnerable after a car accident. Due to this, California law requires car insurance carriers to offer their policyholders uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance coverage when they purchase or renew a policy.

If you choose not to purchase either of these policies, your insurance company will ask you to sign a waiver stating that you were offered uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance coverage but turned it down.

There are three kinds of insurance coverage that fall under this category:

• Uninsured Motorist coverage for the cost of bodily injury to you or a passenger in the event that the at-fault driver has no insurance coverage.
• Underinsured Motorist coverage partially covers the cost of any bodily harm in the event that the at-fault driver has insufficient insurance coverage for the cost of your damages.
• Uninsured Motorist insurance coverage provides as much as $3,500 for any damage to personal property in the event that the at-fault driver does not carry any insurance.

If you opt to purchase the uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist coverage, which is the smart choice, your personal policy should be able to cover your damages even if the at-fault driver has insufficient or no auto insurance. Ideally, your auto insurance policy should offer coverage up to the policy limits. For example:

• You purchase an uninsured or underinsured motorist policy that has a $100,000 limit.
• You are struck by another driver who only carries $15,000 in insurance coverage, the minimum.
• You still have $85,000 of your own insurance available to cover any remaining damages.

If the at-fault driver in this scenario had no insurance at all, you would then have the full $100,000 to cover any damages.

Even though your claim may be 100% valid, you will most likely still receive a very low settlement offer or even find that your claim has been denied outright. Insurance adjusters are highly trained negotiators and have several tricks up their sleeves when it comes to challenging perfectly legitimate claims, such as:

• Denying that your uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist policy even exists.
• Claiming that you were liable for the crash and not the other driver.
• Claiming that a hit-and-run driver never made physical contact with your vehicle or claiming that you caused the accident.
• Attempting to decrease your amount of recovery by saying that you share in the liability for the accident.
• Trying to lower your settlement award by downplaying the seriousness of your injuries, claiming you don’t really need medical treatment, or saying that you are physically able to work.
• Insisting that you could have gotten cheaper medical care from another hospital or physician.
• Challenging the fact that you will require ongoing medical care, physical therapy, or time off of work for recovery.
• Downplaying the physical pain and emotional trauma the accident and your injuries have caused you.
• Claiming that your injuries were not really caused by the accident but rather by some event that took place before or after.

When the insurance company tries to challenge an aspect of your uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist claim, denies your claim altogether, or makes you a ridiculously low settlement offer, you need a reputable personal injury on your side. At the California law firm of Beckerman Anderson, we are no strangers to standing up to huge insurance companies to ensure our clients get the financial compensation they are entitled to, and we will not hesitate to file a lawsuit should it come to that.

In the event that your insurance company wrongfully handles your claim by a low offer or delay, or they wrongfully deny your claim, you can file a suit against the company for additional damages.

When you purchase an insurance policy and pay your monthly premiums, you understandably expect the insurance company to be on your side, investigate in a timely manner, answer all communications, and offer you an equitable settlement to resolve your claim since these actions are required by your policy, which is technically a contract between you and the insurance company. If they fail to do any of these things, then they are in violation of California law, specifically the California Insurance Code, Section 790.03(h). The company has not lived up to its end of the deal and may be subject to significant damages.

When you purchased your auto insurance policy, you paid a premium. If you were involved in a car accident, required medical treatment, or incurred a bill that should have been covered by your policy, but your insurance carrier wrongfully refused prompt payment, then you most likely have a separate cause of action against them, along with your initial claim for damages caused by the accident.

Every insurance policy requires that the issuing company act in good faith when they review a claim and decide what action they are going to take. If the insurance company failed to perform a thorough investigation or tried to get you to accept a settlement that is less than the true value of your claim, you could have a valid bad faith claim against them through which you can recover your benefits and additional losses.

For instance, if you can successfully prove a bad faith claim, you could be awarded additional compensation for the intentional infliction of fraud and emotional despair. You would then be eligible to receive exemplary or punitive damages, which often surpass the amount owed under the contract.

The United States has some of the most expensive medical care in the developed world. This means that medical bills and other accident-related damages can quickly become unmanageable. It is not uncommon for an Orange County car accident to leave a victim with damages that far exceed the coverage limits of their insurance policy, especially in cases that involve catastrophic injuries or fatalities.

When you sign with our law firm, our attorneys devote a significant amount of energy and time to analyzing all of your options for financial recovery. In many cases, there are additional recovery options through which victims can be compensated, provided that liability can be established, such as filing a civil suit against:

• The At-Fault Driver: If an uninsured or underinsured driver negligently causes a car accident with injuries, it is possible to bring a lawsuit against them for other damages that are not covered by the liability portion of the car insurance policy or by the victim’s own uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist policy. Since it is never a sure thing that a driver who carries little to no insurance coverage will have the assets needed to cover any judgment, this isn’t always the greatest option. It is, however, another reason to purchase an ample amount of uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist coverage.
• Other Contributing Drivers: It might be possible to pursue financial compensation from another driver or drivers who contributed to the accident, such as a crash that involved multiple vehicles. If the uninsured driver was operating a commercial vehicle, such as a tractor-trailer, you could also pursue financial compensation from the insurance policy held by the business itself.
• Defective Product Manufacturers: If a manufacturer or distributor made or sold faulty products or defective motor vehicle parts that contributed to the accident, they can also be held responsible for any damages to victims regardless of whether the faulty or malfunctioning product was a contributing factor in the accident or the proximate cause. Examples include accidents caused by a faulty luggage rack that fails to secure cargo properly or a blowout resulting from a defective tire.
• Government Agencies: The government entities that are responsible for designing, building, and maintaining safe roadways can be held liable for their respective percentage of fault if a road hazard, poorly designed intersection, broken traffic light, etc. contributed to your Orange County car accident.
• Rideshare Services/Cab Companies: Patrons who hire a rideshare service like Lyft or Uber or who use a cab are generally covered by the business’s commercial auto insurance policy, which typically provides about $1 million in coverage. If a patron or a rideshare driver is injured by an uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist during a rideshare accident, they should be covered by the company’s commercial insurance policy.
• A Restaurant, Bar, or Social Host: Although they do exist, California has recently passed legislation that heavily limits third-party liability under dram shop laws. Dram shop laws are used to hold restaurants, clubs, bars, and other similar establishments monetarily liable for damages caused when they overserve a patron who is then involved in a drunk driving crash.

California adheres to the rules of pure comparative negligence in standard personal injury cases. Where pure comparative negligence is concerned, liability and fault are able to be distributed across several different parties involved in the accident. These laws also mean that even if a driver was primarily or partly liable for their own car accident, they are still entitled to seek financial compensation from the other at-fault parties involved, although their total settlement award will be decreased by their percentage of fault.