Most people negatively affected by a car crash can turn to motor vehicle insurance for help. A smaller subset of those who have been in a car wreck will pursue a civil lawsuit against the driver who caused the crash.
You may loathe the idea of going to court and seeming like a litigious person, but sometimes a civil lawsuit is necessary after a car crash. When might you need to consider filing a lawsuit after a major car crash?
When a driver doesn’t have insurance (or doesn’t have enough)
Drivers in Oklahoma need $25,000 worth of property damage coverage, as well as $25,000 worth of bodily injury liability coverage in case one person gets hurt. When two or more people get hurt, that bodily injury liability coverage increases to at least $50,000.
When your vehicle is a total loss because of the damage a crash inflicts or when you suffer a major injury, the costs could be far more than those low insurance coverage amounts. There is also always the risk of encountering a driver who doesn’t have insurance at all. A lawsuit may be your only option for defraying your costs after a crash with a driver who doesn’t have enough insurance.
When the other driver isn’t fully to blame
Although the police may have allocated fault to the other driver, there may be extenuating circumstances that show they are not solely responsible.
Maybe a third party, like a vehicle manufacturer, contributed to the crash by producing a dangerous or defective vehicle or vehicle component. In scenarios where a third party is to blame for the severity of the crash, you may be able to file a lawsuit against them in addition to any insurance claim made against the other driver.
Recognizing when you need to take legal action after a motor vehicle collision will help you keep the losses you suffered as low as possible.