The uninsured motorist accident lawyers of the Stone Rose Law Firm can guide you on your legal rights after a car accident with an uninsured motorist, including helping you to make an uninsured motorist claim with your insurance company.
Call our law offices at (480) 498-8998 to talk with one of our car accident lawyers for a free consultation. We can help you understand your options with your insurer, how to make an uninsured motorist claim on your policy, and whether you should pursue a personal injury legal action against the at-fault driver or others who may be at fault for the physical harm done to you.
Under Arizona law, all motor vehicles must be covered by liability insurance with at least the minimum statutory coverage amounts. These minimum coverage amounts are:
Drivers who do not maintain proper insurance are subject to legal penalties that can include fines, jail time, and affect their vehicle registrations and their driver’s licenses.
If you are involved in an auto accident, whether you make a claim against the other driver’s auto insurance or on your own insurance policy, the minimum insurance requirements may be enough to cover claims for minor accidents.
Problems can occur, however, if the other driver does not have car insurance. In this case, making a claim against the driver’s policy is impossible. In more severe accidents that result in severe injuries, your insurance policy may not be enough to pay for all your accident-related costs.
This is why Arizona uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage exists. You can think of this insurance as supplemental insurance: it provides extra coverage when you need it to avoid or reduce your need to pay out of pocket for medical bills and property damage beyond your primary coverage amounts.
Although Arizona law does not mandate uninsured motorist insurance, it does require new auto insurance policies to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in writing in addition to the minimum coverage requirements. The offer should clearly state the policy limits for the offered coverages.
The minimum coverage for uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. Insurance companies offer multiple levels of uninsured and underinsured motorist liability coverage, with some policies as much as $100,000 per person and $300,000 total if two or more people are injured.
If you decline these coverages, you must do so in writing, stating your understanding of these coverage options and that you have chosen not to buy them.
Uninsured motorist coverage benefits you if an uninsured driver gets into an accident with you. It also applies if you are involved in a hit-and-run crash where the other driver leaves the scene.
Uninsured claims can only go through your own insurance company.
On the other hand, underinsured motorist coverage provides coverage if a driver with insufficient insurance policy limits gets into an accident with you.
In an underinsured motorist claim, you first recover against the at-fault party’s insurance. Only after that insurance is exhausted can you seek additional compensation from your own underinsured insurance policy.
You do not have to be the driver in an accident to make an uninsured or underinsured car insurance claim. If you are a passenger in someone else’s vehicle, a bicyclist, or a pedestrian struck by an uninsured or underinsured driver, you can still file a claim under your own uninsured and/or underinsured insurance policy.
Arizona is a traditional fault state for personal injury and property damage claims. You can seek compensation from the at-fault driver’s personal assets if insurance does not pay for all your losses. These assets can include the at-fault driver’s real and personal property, bank accounts, and wages through garnishment.
When you get into a motor vehicle accident with another negligent driver, depending on the circumstances, you will have one or more of three options to pursue:
A significant concern about uninsured drivers is that if your uninsured motorist coverage is not enough to cover your harm, a driver who cannot or will not carry the minimum required auto insurance may have little in the way of income or assets to pay for your damages after a car accident.
Whether it is practical to pursue a civil lawsuit to recover amounts in excess of your uninsured motorist insurance coverage is a question that an experienced Arizona personal injury attorney can help you evaluate.
Arizona’s minimum car insurance coverage amounts may seem like a lot at first glance, but even if the at-fault driver has insurance, your medical bills and car repair costs can quickly exceed that person’s policy limits. This is when having underinsured motorist coverage on your policy can make all the difference.
When making an underinsured motorist policy claim, it helps to have as much supporting documentation for your insurer as possible. This includes the other driver’s information you exchange at the accident scene, particularly the vehicle insurance policy information. If the police file a report on the accident, a copy of that report is also helpful.
Sometimes, problems can arise with your insurance company when you make an underinsured motorist claim, especially when the dollar amount being claimed is significant. Insurance companies are businesses; they do not make money paying out claims.
In some cases, your insurance adjuster can even try to get you to make a statement against your own interest to minimize or deny your claim. Or, your insurance company may try to rely on a technicality, like saying you did not properly make a policy claim under Arizona’s three-year time period to do so. If your insurer balks at your underinsured motorist claim, a Stone Rose Law personal injury lawyer can help you resolve any disputes.
If the other driver is uninsured, or if the combination of an underinsured driver’s policy and your underinsured motorist accident coverage is not enough to pay all your costs after a car accident, then depending on the circumstances, you might consider filing a lawsuit against the at-fault driver.
The first of these considerations is whether the at-fault driver has income and assets worth going after. Although it is not an ironclad rule, drivers who cannot or do not have car insurance are often people of limited financial means. Even if you can prove that such a person is 100% at fault for causing the accident, you may recover little more than a sense of satisfaction from a judgment award in a civil lawsuit.
Your uninsured motorist accident attorney can help you determine if the other driver has assets worth pursuing, such as bank accounts or liquid assets that can be sold to satisfy a judgment.
A personal injury attorney can also ensure that you comply with all the legal requirements to preserve your personal injury claim, like complying with the applicable Arizona statutes of limitations to file underinsured or uninsured motorist claims and personal injury lawsuit claims.
If you file an uninsured or underinsured motorist policy claim in Arizona, you must follow the state’s three-year statute of limitations to recover compensation from your insurer.
For uninsured motorist policy claims, you must make a written claim to your insurer within three years after the earliest date when you knew the other driver had no insurance or, if the uninsured driver had insurance, that the insurer was insolvent.
For underinsured motorist policy claims, you need to make the written notice within three years of the date when you knew, or should have known, that the other driver’s insurer has denied your policy claim against it or when you knew or should have known that the other driver’s insurance would be insufficient to pay your claim.
If you cannot reach a claim settlement with your own insurer, then under Arizona law, you must request arbitration or file a lawsuit per the terms of your insurance contract within three years of giving the written notice of your uninsured or underinsured motorist claim.
You have two years from the accident date to file a personal injury civil lawsuit against the at-fault driver or any other potential defendant. If you do not file a personal injury lawsuit within this deadline, you will lose the ability to do so.
Another possible option in some cases is to see if anyone other than the other driver has any liability to you as a possible defendant in a lawsuit.
Your auto insurer may exercise subrogation rights to file third-party claims against other parties on your behalf and hire its own lawyer to do so. This does not preclude you from having an attorney of your choice to participate in any settlement negotiations or a lawsuit.
Our Phoenix personal injury attorneys at Stone Rose Law represent car accident clients throughout Arizona. We do everything we can to ensure you obtain the compensation you deserve. Contact us online or call (480) 498-8998 to schedule your free consultation to discuss your car accident case with a qualified car accident lawyer.
