Getting hurt in a car accident is almost always a stressful experience.
Of course, the most serious accidents can leave a person paralyzed or with a severe traumatic brain injury, both of which are life-altering.
But even those who suffer broken bones, torn ligaments or soft tissue injuries still have a lot to deal with. Besides undergoing medical treatment and pain, the victim and his or her family will have to figure out how to deal with medical bills, other costs related to treatment and lost wages.
As our blog has said many times, Anaheim residents who have gotten hurt by a negligent motorist have the option to pursue compensation for medical bills, lost wages and other damages, including the value of their pain and suffering.
Unfortunately, getting compensation is not always as easy as making a claim against the negligent driver.
Many times, a victim of an accident in Southern California may discover that the negligent driver either has no automobile liability insurance or, even if they do, it isn’t nearly enough to cover all of the victim’s expenses and losses.
It may be difficult at that point to recover additional money directly from the driver, as the driver could file bankruptcy or just have very limited funds to collect.
At this point, though, a victim will want to look at his or her own insurance policy. It is pretty common for Californians to buy what is called uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage. If a person did buy this, it should appear on his or her policy.
These two types of coverages can provide compensation to victims in two related types of case. Uninsured motorist coverage kicks in when a person is a victim of a hit-and-run driver or finds out the driver at fault has no automobile liability insurance.
Underinsured motorist coverage applies when the driver at fault had insurance, but the amounts are not enough to compensate a victim completely.
A victim can pursue compensation through his or her uninsured and underinsured coverages by filing a claim with his or her own automobile insurance company.
However, a person should be aware that this sort of insurance can be tricky. Furthermore, the insurance company may try to avoid paying all of the victim’s bills and damages