Suing An Uninsured Driver For An Accident
No one wants to get into an automobile accident. Among the worst things that can happen to you is if you happen to be a driver that gets into an accident where the driver of the other vehicle is uninsured. Not only will you not be able to reap the benefits of receiving an insurance settlement (at least right away), you will have to pay an ample amount of court fees, in many occasions. If you are a driver that happens to get into an accident with an uninsured driver, you basically have 2 options at your hand. First, you can sue the driver, even if they have no insurance, for damages. Secondly, you could file an uninsured motorist benefit claim with your insurance provider. The most common course of action is to sue the uninsured motorist, and there are things you should know about this process.
First Steps
Though generally the common option, it is not always recommended that you sue an uninsured driver. It might cost you more to bring the person to court rather than receive the amount you can sue them for in damages. This is due to the fact that, more often than not, uninsured drivers don't have much money or assets, which are critical when you are seeking repayment.
Even if the case comes out in your favor, often times, the defendant will not have the money the court orders them to pay back for the damage they caused. If the defendant does not pay you, you can take the defendant back to court, but this is a bit of a Sisyphean project.
Payment Plan
However, if the court does deem that the defendant has money to which they can pay you, there are a number of options at your fingertips. The most common option is a payment plan.
In this judgment, the defendant will set up a payment plan in order to pay you back the covered costs for the amount due. There is usually a set amount that a person has to pay back per week. This is usually not a very satisfying option, as the amount the defendant pays is usually akin to something hovering around $20 a week. That's probably not something you want to deal with, and your lawyer most likely doesn't either (as he or she will be receiving 1/3 of this amount – only $6.67 a week). And if the defendant doesn't make good on his or her payment, you'll have to go back to court and start the entire process over again. As the amount that a lawyer receives from such cases is paltry, there are very few attorneys who will take a personal injury case when the defendant has very little in the way of income or assets.
Show The Lawyer The Money
Usually, the only way to get an attorney to take such a case is to prove to them that the defendant in question does have an amount of income or assets. Most of the time these types of assets are hidden away from (semi) public view. Before taking a case against an uninsured driver, a lawyer will usually run a credit or asset check on the defendant in question. If the check shows that the defendant has some form of income or some assets that he or she has previously had withheld, chances are, the attorney will take the case. The lawyer will most likely file a lien or try to have the defendant's assets frozen so that he or she cannot hide anything away from the lawyer at this point.
Filing a lawsuit against an uninsured driver is not always the best idea, but if it's something you plan on doing, keeping these points in mind will help you go about doing it. Read more about this and other similar options for auto accidents online or ask a lawyer for more information.