You probably know that it is the insurance of the at-fault driver that will cover expenses from a car crash. What you may not realize is that there are many crashes where the at-fault driver doesn’t have enough coverage to adequately compensate you if you are seriously hurt or suffer catastrophic property damage.
You do not want to wind up in a situation where you have to absorb financial losses because of someone else’s bad driving practices and inadequate insurance coverage. Familiarizing yourself with the required insurance under North Carolina law and your other options for compensation can help protect you after a major collision.
Drivers may have far less coverage than the crash costs
North Carolina mandates that all drivers carry insurance that protects them from liability related to property damage and injuries. That insurance may not be enough in some cases, however.
If you drive a new vehicle, a luxury model or even a vehicle retrofitted for wheelchair access or foot-free driving, the amount of property damage involved in the crash could easily exceed the state’s minimum requirement of $25,000 worth of property damage protection.
The mandatory minimum amount of personal injury coverage is also relatively low. In a crash where only one person gets hurt, there may only be $30,000 worth of medical coverage available. Crashes with two or more injured parties may have only $60,000 worth of coverage to split among all of those people. This could mean that the victims of a crash get stuck with medical bills that far exceed the available insurance protection.
You can turn to your insurance or the courts
One of the many ways that you can protect yourself from other people on the road is to purchase uninsured or underinsured driver coverage as part of your insurance package. These critical benefits will cover you if the other driver either doesn’t have active insurance or their insurance falls short of your total medical and property damage costs.
If you don’t have that coverage or if the damages you suffered still exceed the insurance available, a personal injury lawsuit against the other driver may be the best option for connecting with compensation after a catastrophic crash.
