What If the Other Driver Doesn’t Have Insurance?

Being involved in a car accident is a lousy experience.  You have injuries, rental car costs, missed time from work, medical bills, and the general hassle of having your life turned upside-down.  However, all of this can feel exponentially worse if it turns out that the drive who caused the accident did not have insurance.

What Do I Do if the Other Driver Didn’t Have Insurance?

If the other driver is uninsured, things may not be as bad as they seem.  There are two types of “uninsured” drivers: (1) a driver who has coverage, but not enough to meet the minimum limits of South Carolina (25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, $25,000 property damage); and (2) a driver with no insurance at all.  In either situation, your insurance policy will step in and provide coverage under the Uninsured Motorist Coverage (UM Coverage) of your policy.

If you’re asking yourself, “do I have that type of coverage?” you can rest easy – you do.  South Carolina law requires that all car insurance policies provide coverage for this type of situation.  You couldn’t go without it even if you tried.  However, it is important to know how much UM coverage you have.  Every policy must have UM in at least the minimum South Carolina limits ($25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, $25,000 property damage).  But you may have even more than the minimum on your policy.  Moreover, you can sometimes “stack” your coverage, meaning you can multiply the coverage by the number of vehicles on your policy.

Making a claim under UM coverage is important and knowing how much coverage is available can be the difference between scraping by and getting fully compensated.  For these situations, it’s a good idea to at least have a conversation with a lawyer before going too far.