Filing A Claim After An Accident With An Uninsured Motorist

Despite Pennsylvania law requiring all drivers to have car insurance, nearly one in every seven drivers is uninsured according to the Insurance Research Council (IRC). Even more concerning, the IRC believes that many more drivers are underinsured with their policies, which could leave you holding the bill after an accident.

The last thing you want to worry about after an accident is an uninsured or underinsured motorist claim. Understanding complex issues such as insurance coverage can be confusing and somewhat intimidating. At Rehmeyer & Allatt, we help State College individuals make sense of these complicated situations.

Do You Have Underinsured Motorist Coverage?

Underinsured motorist insurance coverage is an optional addition you can purchase along with your regular motor vehicle insurance. What underinsured motorist coverage means is that your insurance company will help with medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, pain and suffering, and other expenses if you are the victim of a car accident with an driver who does not have sufficient insurance coverage to fully compensate you for your injuries and damages.

Underinsured motorist coverage will apply to you, as well as your family members living in the same house in the event of a car accident. Underinsured motorist coverage will help with your bills no matter if you are a driver, pedestrian or passenger.

In many cases with underinsured drivers, they don’t have assets for you to recover money after an accident has occurred, which can leave you with expensive bills and no legal recourse.

Understanding The Different Types Of Coverage

While they serve similar purposes, uninsured and underinsured insurance coverage policies have specific differences. These two forms of coverage break down as follows:

• Uninsured (UM): A driver with no insurance or insurance that does not meet the legal standards. Hit-and-run accidents would also fall under the category of uninsured drivers, as no information can be recovered from a driver who flees the accident scene.
• Underinsured (UIM): A driver who has the legally required level of insurance, but whose insurance policy does not have limits great enough to cover damages resulting from an accident.

What Does Uninsured Motorist Insurance Cover?

UM insurance covers you in the following circumstances:

• When the driver responsible for the accident carries no liability coverage
• When the driver at fault is unidentifiable, as in a hit-and-run accident
• When the driver responsible for the accident is driving a stolen vehicle (the liability insurance of the vehicle owner does not cover the driver in this case)

If you need to use UM or UIM, our lawyers can help you file a claim against your own insurance company. Insurance companies only make a profit if they collect more in insurance premiums than they pay out for claims. In order to keep profit margins high, they have various means and methods of obscuring policy details, delaying payment, shortchanging policyholders and even denying your claim.

Call Rehmeyer & Allatt Today For A Free Consultation

Lodging a claim against your own insurance company is an adversarial proceeding and requires a lawyer with a knowledge of how insurance companies work. Our attorneys know how to help you receive the compensation you deserve with an underinsured motorist claim. Call us today at 814-343-0453 for a free case review and consultation. You can also visit our contact page to send us an email.