 |
An Example Of No Fault Insurance
by Ina Segurian
http://www.gapinsurances.com
Did you know that if you live in one of the states that
are under a non-fault insurance system that your
insurance company will not pay for the other parties'
damages, even if you are at fault?
In a no fault state, the law states that drivers must
have insurance for their own protection, regardless of
who causes an accident. Your company would pay for the
damages you suffer regardless of fault, and the other
driver's insurance company would pay for their loss.
The theory is that since we all agree to be responsible
for ourselves that there will be no uninsured motorists
in these states. Well, interesting "theory".
You see, the idea is that the no fault system
guarantees everyone will get immediate treatment in the
event of an accident. Also, it may reduce the legal
and other costs which come with claims against the
other driver. Again, the idea is this will result in
lower premiums but unfortunately the issues of
liability remain and can actually make premiums more
expensive.
Since, even in theory, no state is purely non fault,
drivers can still be held financially responsible for
injuries caused by them. The victim may still have the
right to sue if the injuries meet certain standards of
severity.
Outlined below is an interesting case of a classic no
fault situation: A lady lived in a 4-plex apartment
building that had a 4 stall covered garage and a 4-car
wide driveway. The standard practice was for tenants
to pull into the driveway to turn around before heading
out to the street.
One Sunday afternoon, one of the tenants decided to go
visit a friend. She got into her car and began backing out
of the driveway in her normal manner. When all of a sudden
she felt a bump and heard a scream. At first she thought
she ran over her cat who would occasionally escape. She
opened her car door and found half of a body. Scared half
out of her mind, she shut the car off and ran into the
house and immediately called 911.
The driver was too scared to go outside at that point. As
far as she knew, the half body, belonging to one of her
neighbors, was still under the car and the driver was
certain the injuries were serious. Her left rear wheel had
crossed her body from her thigh on one side on the diagonal
to above her pelvic region. The driver later learned that
some strong man from across the street came over and picked
up the car so she could get out from underneath.
The neighbor announced that she was feeling fine and didn~t
want to go to the hospital. But the police and ambulance
didn~t feel the same way so they took her the four blocks
to the hospital. Turns out the neighbor was sunbathing
behind her car and somehow the driver didn~t see her when
she walked to her car. She ended up with no broken bones,
no internal injuries; just a tire track from her right
thigh across to her left stomach.
The driver felt absolutely terrible, accepted full
responsibility, wanted to do everything and more to make it
up to her. The next day, the driver phoned the insurance
company to explain to them what had happened. They asked
her two questions. #1 Does she drive? (yes) and #2 Does she
own a car? (yes). The insurance company informed the driver
that due to No Fault insurance the neighbor~s own car
insurance would have to cover the medical costs. The driver
was clearly at fault, yet the driver~s insurance wouldn~t
cover the damages even though it was her fault.
Do you still think no fault insurance is the way to go?
Submit An Article
|
|
|
