Even if the accident is not your fault, you will have problems if you don’t have insurance. “You can still be subject to fines under the CAIA,” Mitchell says. “You would also have no right to recover damages or injuries, as the insurance law prevents uninsured drivers from recovering money even if they were not at fault for the accident.”
If you’re involved in a drive-through accident and you’re unable to get the other driver’s insurance information because they fled, call the police first. “You are legally required to stay at the scene of an accident,” says Karageorgos. “If someone doesn’t stop, that’s a red flag — they may be under the influence or uninsured.”
He also recommends capturing as much detail as possible and taking photos and videos. “Being in a collision is a stressful and traumatic event, so you want to have that data available when the police or your insurance company need it.”
Write down everything that happened so you don’t forget, including notes about the location and the way the vehicles drove. Note the details about the vehicle itself, such as the make, color and model, any identifying information (such as a bumper sticker or a broken taillight), and whether there were any passengers.
What if someone refuses to provide their insurance information?
If someone does not want to provide their insurance information, please contact the police. In the event of a car accident, drivers are legally obliged to exchange insurance information. In the meantime, you can safely obtain all possible information, such as a license plate and a description of the vehicle and driver. Often a license plate and vehicle description can be used to find the insurance that goes with the license plate. This is all afterwards, we know that. Again, try to remember as many details as possible so that you can pass them on to the police.
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Making a claim with uninsured car insurance
Call your broker or insurer as soon as possible before you repair your car or incur major costs. Of course, it’s okay to do whatever is reasonably necessary to protect yourself or follow a doctor’s instructions. Remember that your insurance company has the right to review all elements of the claim before making a payment to you. The sooner you notify your insurer, the sooner you can expect your payment.
Know that an uninsured car claim takes time and requires documentation. As mentioned above, write everything down, take pictures, and also collect witness contact details, if you can.
Expect your insurance coverage to have limits. Uninsured auto limits are quite low. If you want to make sure that all possible costs of an accident are covered, you can buy higher limits on other types of coverage, such as collision and comprehensive (before a claim is made, of course). This reduces the chance that your actual loss will exceed the standard payouts.
This post Uninsured Motorist Coverage 101: What You Need to Know
was original published at “https://www.moneysense.ca/spend/uninsured-auto-insurance/”