If you were to get into an accident without insurance, you are in many ways as one would say in the water without a paddle. In many ways you have absolutely no protection from things that could happen after the accident and no help in regards to anything that happened during the accident. You may be liable to pay countless fees and costs. You may be liable to pay injury claims as well. Getting help would be the first thing you should do in this case and affording a lawyer, if you cannot afford insurance may seem a bit out of reach as well.
You could face fines, you could be jailed, and you could lose your license, if you were to be in an accident without insurance coverage. The other part that most people do not think about is that these fines vary from state to state, county to county and district to district. Therefore it would also depend on where the accident happened. So many variables, not to mention you could also be sued for a plethora of items.
Depending on person to person and case to case, not having insurance and getting into an accident could and will mean something different for each and every person. One other important thing to remember is that insurance covers several different components of the driver, the car and vice versa for other drivers and other plans. Companies that administer chance at insurance coverage take into account the safety of a driver in the past history of a driver. Moreover it is imperative that a driver meets financial requirements such as a credit check when purchasing insurance as well. All components combined are the determining factors for insurance coverage and what you may be able to afford and not afford. The reason we mention this is because getting into an accident will for sure, impact the future of your insurance coverage.
Whether you have or do not have insurance getting into an accident will determine your ability to get insurance in the future, or your current policy if you were to have one at the time of an accident. Given in a moment in which you are not covered and you happen to get into an accident, then by rule one must assume that future insurance will be affected in price fluctuation; relative to the severity of damages and cost in previous accident. Basically, the safety score you carry as a driver. How much will the insurance company have to pay for YOU to drive if you were to then purchase coverage?
This means that you would be paying a high price on coverage, and if you are already driving without insurance be it because you are in a rental, or perhaps you did not take a policy out during the month, payment issues or whatever else the case may be – you will for sure have to pay a higher policy price than someone who does not get into car crashes or accidents without insurance.
The reality of the issue is as best put by Guido Calabrese, companies equate lives to money. Getting into an accident without insurance means that you could be responsible for the damages if at fault, regardless of anything you will be responsible again as stated for required feed imposed by laws and penalties. One thing is for sure, if the other driver(s) have coverage, their insurance companies may also ask for money, not just the person. Calabrese states it well when he says that “laws are [created] to compensate victims and reduce accident costs” (Calabresi, 713).
So what is the solution? For starters, seeking legal council is definitely an option. Since the results of getting into an accident without insurance vary based on detailed variables, you would essentially be without the ability to drive for a while. This could in turn impact your life greatly, even more so than you thought. Seeking legal counsel could give someone a heads up on the law. You see, since there are some states that are no fault states, regardless of having insurance or not. Moreover, there could be determining factors that state that you were not at fault to being with, but also using safe driving while operating your vehicle. Not to mention the fact that with legal counsel you could find other determining factors that could help in your case. Perhaps you were experiencing extreme hardship, or you did get insurance, but the policy had not started yet. Maybe you were driving a rental, which means the rental company does have insurance, but you yourself would need support out of your own pocket, etc. Many outlining variables, but the bottom line is that an informed individual is a powerful individual and perhaps you are feeling powerless at the moment of the accident and after, but you are not entirely powerless with legal counsel by your side.
Finally, maybe you did not get into an accident, but let’s put something into perspective. Not having insurance on a motor vehicle, or property you could be in a situation where you are at the impact of torts not just laws when it comes to your property and even the falling of a tree on a boat, is an accident (for instance). One could look to case law to see a better example of this in Vincent v. Lake Erie Transp. Co. Where, other determining factors came into play for a case dealing with torts and laws in relation to items owned and not, insured or not. Situations like these could be used as examples to magnify the importance of legal counsel and knowledge during a difficult situation to deal with such as getting into an accident without insurance. The bottom line is, an accident without insurance may happen, it could very well happen to anyone, but the varying results are just unpredictable as the ability predict a crash all together. Therefore, aligning yourself with the right kind of help and support will be the most important factoring controlled variables to focus on after an accident without insurance.
Resources:
Calabresi, G. (1965). The Decisions for Accidents: An Approach to Nonfault Allocation of Costs.
Harvard Law Review. Volume 78, No. 4.