If you have been hurt in a South Carolina car accident, you are entitled to recover the damages that this has caused you. This includes medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and possibly even punitive damages. But what happens if you are the victim of an underinsured accident? That is, the driver whose fault the accident was does not have enough insurance to fairly compensate you.
In South Carolina minimum insurance limits are only $25,000. Although you can usually easily and inexpensively buy additional coverage, many people choose to only buy the legally required minimum coverage. This means that no matter how negligent they are, or how badly they hurt someone else, their insurance is limited to only being required to pay $25,000.
It is important to know that there are things you can do to protect your interests in this situation. Here are some strategies that can be useful:
- Check your policy for medical benefits.
Your own automobile policy may include medical payment benefits, or it may be called personal injury protection. If you have this coverage, it is usually a small amount, $1,000-$5,000. The exact amount will be specified on your insurance declaration page. This is money you can receive based on the amount of medical bills you have because of the accident. Your receipt of this money does not limit or affect what you can get from the at-fault driver.
- Check your policy again for underinsured coverage (“UIM”).
Underinsured coverage is optional, but a very important type of car insurance. This is especially true in a state like South Carolina with such low legally required limits. If you have purchased underinsured then it “kicks in” when the at-fault driver’s liability policy is insufficient to pay all of your damages. The amount of underinsured you have will be listed on your policy declaration page. You also can “stack” coverage, meaning you can combine the coverage on multiple autos covered on the policy to provide consecutive total coverage amounts.
- See if you can obtain additional payment under the at-fault driver’s property loss coverage for punitive damages.
If you are case involves property damage, and the at-fault driver’s conduct potentially gives rise to punitive damages consider making an additional claim on the property loss coverage portion of their policy. While this does not specifically provide more money to you for your personal injury damages (medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, etc.), it is still more money. Situations where punitive damages can apply include if you were hit by a drunk driver, or the driver was distracted by a cell phone at the time of the accident. Basically, anything where the at-fault driver’s behavior was worse than the typical negligence required in an ordinary accident case.
- Can you make any other claims beyond the at-fault driver?
In some situations, it can be possible to make claims against others beyond the at-fault driver. For example, if the at-fault driver was working at the time of the accident then you may be able to make a claim against the business’s insurance. Or if they had been drinking at a bar or restaurant and were impaired, you may be able to pursue the bar or restaurant’s policy (sometimes this is called a dram shop case).
- Consider the at-fault driver’s personal assets.
Although many at-fault drivers with minimum car insurance do not have personal assets, some do. If that driver owns real estate or other property that could be used to compensate you this is something that can be pursued. It is always worth checking local property records, and it may be possible to request the at-fault driver make additional payments above-and-beyond what their insurance covers.
Getting injured by an underinsured driver does not always mean your options are limited. We can help you explore all your options to make sure your rights are protected. We accept personal injury, automobile accidents, and workers’ compensation cases throughout South Carolina. For a free, no obligation consultation contact us today.