No, Washington is not a no-fault state when it comes to auto insurance. Washington is a “at-fault” or “tort” state, meaning that the person who is at fault for a car accident is responsible for paying for other people's injuries and property damage as a result of the accident. We'll meet with you to help you understand your legal options and what to do next. Is Washington one of the 12 states in the United States?.
UU. States (starting in 202) that are currently considered no-fault states? The short answer is no. No-fault insurance is also known as personal injury protection (PIP) insurance and is designed to pay for medical expenses and lost wages as a result of injuries caused by a car accident, regardless of who caused the accident. Even if you were 100% wrong, PIP will pay.
PIP is also considered “own insurance”, meaning that you are covered by your own insurance policy, and not by that of the at-fault driver. The advantage of personal injury protection is that it significantly reduces the barriers to obtaining the money you need to cover your medical bills, lost wages, and other costs (these are known as economic damages). You don't have to prove your guilt to get it. You don't need to go through the other driver's insurance.
The main disadvantage is that the PIP only offers compensation for direct medical expenses, lost wages, and sometimes other related services (such as the cost of replacement household services). It will never cover damages caused by pain and suffering (emotional distress, mental distress, loss of relationship with family members, or loss of enjoyment of life). If you have serious injuries, pain and suffering could easily make up most of a truly fair settlement. Personal injury protection insurance is also often quite expensive compared to other forms of coverage, especially in no-fault states.
Basically, it all comes down to what type of coverage is “primary” after a car accident. In a no-fault state, your own personal injury protection insurance is the first place you go after being involved in a car accident. You'll only have to file a claim against the at-fault driver if you don't have enough PIP coverage to pay for your medical expenses and lost wages, or if you also want to receive compensation for pain and suffering. In “fault” states, also known as liability states, liability insurance comes first.
When another person causes an accident and you are injured, the at-fault driver is primarily responsible for covering your damages, whatever they may be. Even in a state of fault, you may also have a personal injury protection policy. But in reality, its purpose is to serve as additional backup in case the other driver is uninsured or underinsured, and as a way to ensure that you can get quick money for immediate medical expenses and lost wages while legal actions in your case are still ongoing. If you win the case against the other driver, the at-fault driver's insurer can reimburse your own insurance company for any PIP benefits you've already paid.
The person who caused the accident is also the person whose insurance company is responsible for paying full compensation (up to the limits of the policy) to other people who are injured in that accident. Therefore, if it turns out that you are one of those injured people and the accident wasn't your fault or, at least, not in its entirety, you'll have to file a claim or lawsuit against the other driver (or any other potentially responsible party) to get compensation. In practical terms, this means that while you could consider suing the other driver for compensation, they could also sue you and both of you could “win,” as long as both of you share at least a certain degree of fault. Regardless of what state you live in or where your car accident occurs, getting free legal advice from an experienced car accident lawyer as soon as possible is always a smart choice.
Insurance companies don't want to pay the benefits they're supposed to pay. Denying claims and offering insulting and cheap settlement offers is how they make money and, after many decades in the business, they're very good at it. If you want to successfully counter the insurance company's tricks, you'll need to come prepared with solid evidence not only to show that the other driver was truly responsible, but also to accurately account for the financial, physical and emotional costs of your life. Suffice to say, it's quite a difficult task for most victims of car accidents.
Fighting the insurance company on your own, without legal experience and while you're trying to rebuild your life, is rarely a good idea, to say the least. That's why you need a vigilant and aggressive legal defense. If you've been injured due to someone else's negligence, contact the personal injury lawyers at Herschensohn Law today for a free consultation. You owe us nothing for the evaluation of the case and will continue to owe us nothing unless and until we win for you.
To request your consultation, call us at (20) 588-4344 or use our handy online form. The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as legal advice on any topic. After a worker was electrocuted at a construction site and suffered life-changing injuries, we fought and won on his behalf. When a retiree died in a truck accident, we made sure that their grieving family received fair compensation.
When a faulty medical device harmed our client, we fought to ensure that they had the financial compensation needed to recover. When you request your free consultation, Kent personal injury lawyer Zach Herschensohn will listen to you, answer your questions, explain your legal options, and provide practical legal advice. When you work with our law office, there are no obligations, no hidden fees or small print. Washington is not a no-fault insurance state.
Washington operates under a liability system to process car accident complaints. That means that when an accident occurs, blame is placed on one or both drivers. When no-fault insurance was first implemented, several states thought it would simplify the process of treating car accidents. All drivers in Washington are required to have liability insurance that covers them in the event that they cause damage to someone else's property, injury to another person, or death.
Kapuza Lighty PLLC of Yakima, Washington, has handled cases like this throughout Eastern Washington, including Grant, Benton and Kittitas Counties. In civil liability law, the duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on a person, company, or organization that requires them to act with a reasonable standard of care when carrying out any action that could predictably harm other people. A person involved in a car accident in Washington State has the right to file a lawsuit for uncompensated economic damages, such as lost wages and medical expenses, and for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering. The Washington Supreme Court has found that a legal limit on non-economic damages constitutes an unconstitutional violation of the right to a trial by jury, making Washington a fair state for personal injury lawsuits.
Every driver must still have insurance, but the at-fault driver's insurance pays all (or most) of the bill. With the PIP, an insured driver is covered for injuries that occur to him or his family members or passengers in a car accident. If you were injured in a car accident and were taken to a hospital and received treatment, you might consider having a lawyer review your case. If you are in a moving vehicle when an accident occurs, stop immediately and safely on the side of the road, turn off the car and turn on the emergency lights.
On the other hand, if they only have the minimum policy offered by their insurance company, it's more than likely that they don't have significant assets to take advantage of. .