Can someone sue you for a car accident if you have insurance in California?
If you are involved in an accident that injures someone or causes property damage during driving in the state of California, they are entitled to sue you to seek compensation, even in such a case you have a car owner’s insurance. You will need a car accident attorney in most cases. Here's all you need to know:
At-Fault Driver is Liable
The party at fault in a car accident is the one who owes compensation to other drivers for the injuries and damages that results from the collision under California tort law. This implies if the other driver or sufferers to take the stand start a lawsuit that you are involved with you will be the plaintiff.
Ill-fortunate, the policies may not accommodate all or such claims fully.
Car insurance is as a way to compensate for the drivers against debt they cannot afford if the accident occurs. However, there are many situations where your liability insurance limits may not be enough to fully cover the claims against you after an accident, such as:
- The damage awards exceed your policy limits: It may happen if you are found at fault for an accident while your policy limits are not sufficient to cover the claim, then you will be held personally responsible for the remainder of the claim.
- Serious injuries are involved: Medical management, loss of wages, and many other type of costs associated with the major injury totally exceed much more than $100,000.
- Multiple parties sue you: Among other scenarios, suppose that you hurt numerous people, the sum of individual claims could be beyond the cover ceilings of your liability.
In case there is a shortfall between liability coverage and the injuries/damages claimed, the party who was injured can sue you as the person responsible for the losses. Such an excess in liability is not covered by Insurance.
When Can Someone Sue?
Compared to the statute of limitations in California, wherein accident victims are allotted two years to file a lawsuit dating the time of the happening, the statute of limitations in other states varies. Lawsuits are more common in accidents that result in expensive vehicle damage, large medical bills, or that affect more than one person.
Protecting Your Assets
In order to protect assets from a possible lawsuit related to a car accident, you should turn to our umbrella insurance policies in California, which tickle in more liability coverage than the standard auto insurance. Additional uninsured / underinsured motorist coverages can be beneficial to you still in situations where the at-fault driver has either low or no insurance at all.
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