If your damages exceed the limits of the defendant's insurance policy, you may be entitled to a judgment for an amount greater than the limits of the policy. You could recover the rest of the judgment by garnishing the defendant's wages or by imposing a lien on your property. In many cases, if your damages exceed the limits of the at-fault party's insurance policy, your only recourse will be to collect them directly from the defendant. This can be difficult to do if the defendant has no cash or assets to pay you.
But what happens when the damages in your car accident claim exceed the limits of your insurance policy? When your case ends like this, it would be best to talk to a New York City car accident lawyer, if you haven't already done so, to discuss your options for additional compensation. Given the number of expensive vehicles on the road and the potential for damaging a building or other structure in a car accident, it's definitely possible that the property damage you cause will exceed your insurance coverage. Nearly every state in the country requires drivers to have a minimum amount of liability coverage in their auto insurance so that everyone is financially protected in the event of an accident. Supplemental insurance is additional liability coverage that can protect you if you exhaust the limits of your auto or home insurance.
If you can file a no-fault claim and the other driver was solely at fault for your car accident, the other driver (through your insurance company) will have to pay for the medical bills, lost wages, and other losses that you have suffered. If everyone has enough car insurance coverage, insurance companies pay the bills and settle everything behind the scenes. Liability coverage is the part of your car insurance that pays for the damage you cause to other people and your property in an accident. If you were injured in a car accident, your PIP insurance will cover your bills before your health insurance takes effect.
For example, if it is very clear that the plaintiff should be able to recover under the terms of the policy and the plaintiff is willing to reach an agreement, but the insurance company will not, then the insurer could be considered to have acted in bad faith. When you have a car accident in New York, your insurance company is responsible for compensating for the resulting damages. Uninsured motorist insurance covers you and your family if a driver injures you and they didn't have car insurance, or if a driver fled. In the case of bodily injuries, insurance companies often offer coverage for uninsured drivers (UM) as a supplement to their insurance policy.
The final insurance policy premium for any policy is determined by the insurance company upon application. State minimum levels of car insurance are often not sufficient to protect you financially in the event that an accident is at fault. Not only is the comparative negligence rule binding on New York judges and juries (if your car accident case goes to court), but it will also serve as a guide to the auto insurance claims adjuster when evaluating your case.