The first concern of any victim in an auto accident case is to get healthy, but after that, your concern shifts to the ability of the other party to pay for your injuries and damages. Insurance is easier to collect than payments from an individual. Typically, those who do not carry insurance cannot afford it and therefore have other social ills that make enforcement or payment to you difficult.

Many people who cause accidents do have insurance but are afraid of an increase in premium. Therefore they actually lie about having insurance or refuse to provide the information to you. You have a remedy. The Department of Motor Vehicles has a process of filings on accidents that cause more than $500 damage to a vehicle. Each party is obligated to file an SR1A, a document advising of the accident and the insurance status of each driver. If the other driver does not respond, their license is revoked. Therefore you should file an SR1A immediately or your attorney can help you with this.

If the DMV gets no response, the chances are that the other party has no insurance. To prove no insurance status, you can request verification from the DMV by filing an SR19. It usually takes 60 days to get the final response from the DMV but is presumed conclusive. If of course insurance is discovered in the meantime, you can process your claim.

If you have demonstrated that there is no insurance through an SR19, you may then consider a claim against your insurance company under your Uninsured Motorist Coverage. This coverage pays you for damages that another owes you arising from an accident involving a motor vehicle. Clients can rest assured that making an uninsured motorist claim does not invoke a rise in premiums because the accident is not your fault or a chargeable event. Additionally, you can claim damages from your carrier up to the limits of coverage you purchased before the accident.

To make a claim, you should contact your carrier and provide them with your SR19 and other information about your case. Please make sure you review al our information topics as your insurance carrier will try to save themselves money and not you by limiting your claim. For instance you should still do your investigation, See Importance of Immediate Investigation since any payment by your company is based upon the fault of the other driver. You should also understand the process of a claim ad damages, see Handling an Auto Accident Case on Your Own and Keeping Your Auto Accident Version Simple. Of course it is always advisable to review the methods of settlement in the 5 Winning Tips to Settling Your Automobile Accident Case.

You may also hire an attorney to make your claim, see the 3 Great Reasons to Hire an Attorney for Your Auto Accident Case, which is applicable in an uninsured motorist claim as well. You may consult with us for free as well, or read our home page mission statement first to explain why we would help you for free. Eventual success starts with good preparation, so make sure that earlier rather than later you consult these articles and or an attorney so that you can plan the most success possible in your claim.