If you are injured by another driver’s negligence in a car accident, seeking fair compensation can be critical to your recovery, but the process can be complicated. Some states adopt a no-fault approach in which car accident victims are compensated by their own insurance coverage (called personal injury protection, or PIP), but Indiana is not one of these states. Reach out to an experienced Indiana car accident attorney to learn more about your legal rights after being injured in a car accident.
In no-fault states, those injured by the negligent driving practices of someone else must pursue compensation for the property damage to their vehicles, their medical costs, and lost income through their own PIP policy, and only if their losses are greater than their coverage – or if their injuries are more serious – will the other driver’s car insurance coverage come into play.
In Indiana, however, if a car accident that was caused by someone else leaves you injured, you’ll file your claim with that driver’s car insurance provider. If that driver does not carry enough coverage to compensate you for your full range of covered losses (or legal damages), you can look to your own underinsured or uninsured motorist policy to help cover the additional amounts.
In Indiana, every driver is required by law to carry liability insurance, which is insurance that covers the losses experienced by anyone he or she is responsible for harming in a car accident. The minimum liability coverage amounts in the state include:
In addition, there are requirements in relation to coverage for underinsured and uninsured motorists, which must be offered by car insurance providers and which can only be rejected if you do so in writing. This coverage includes:
If you are injured by another driver’s negligence, working closely with an experienced Indiana car accident attorney is the surest way to help protect your best interests – in pursuit of just compensation.
The compensation you can seek in a car accident claim that is based on another driver’s negligence in Indiana includes, but is not limited to
Obtaining compensation that covers your complete losses supports your ability to achieve your most complete recovery.
Indiana also has what are known as No Pay, No Play statutes in place that stop motorists who repeatedly fail to carry required car insurance coverage from seeking compensation for noneconomic losses in car accident claims, which include those losses that do not have a price tag attached, such as pain and suffering. This applies to those drivers who don’t have the necessary liability coverage at the time of the accident in question and who have already violated the state’s financial responsibility laws within the past five years.
If you share fault for an accident that causes you to be injured, you may think that you have no recourse in terms of seeking compensation from the other at-fault driver, but this is not the case in Indiana. Indiana uses comparative fault laws that allow car accident victims like you to seek compensation from the other at-fault driver as long as they are no more than 50 percent responsible for the accident. For example, if the court determines that you are 10 percent at fault for an injury-causing accident, you could receive compensation for 90 percent of your covered losses from the other driver (who is deemed to be 90 percent responsible).
The stress and adrenaline rush you experience as a result of a car accident can leave you confused about what actually happened and who is at fault. In fact, the determination of fault is based on the unique facts of the accident – as supported by the evidence – and is a job that is best left in the capable hands of your dedicated car accident attorney. In fact, it is not unusual for injured motorists to blame themselves after a car accident – even when legal responsibility lies squarely with the other driver. You should never state you are at fault after an accident.
The kind of evidence that guides car accident claims can include:
Because the insurance is, first and foremost, in the business of making money, it is motivated to keep your settlement as low as possible, but taking all the following steps can help to ensure that you are fairly compensated:
If a negligent driver leaves you injured, compensation for your losses is critical to your recovery, and the trusted Indiana car accident attorneys at Blackburn Romey have the experience, skill, and drive to help. Your claim is important, so please don’t wait to contact or call us for more information about what we can do to help you today.
