How Auto Insurance Affects Claims in Illinois
By Jim Bizzieri | Published on July 25, 2011 | 0 Comments
Every state has different laws pertaining to auto insurance in the event of an accident, with some states placing the burden of payment on different parties. For instance, in several states, one must bring claims to their own insurance company when in an accident, regardless of who was at fault, while in other states the courts calculate fault down to exact percentages. Illinois law involves a little of both, and there are a whole other slew of factors concerning auto insurance when cars collide which makes it important to hire an experienced Chicago auto accident lawyer.
James Bizzieri, a Chicago auto accident lawyer, with the Bizzieri Law Offices, says that the role auto insurance plays in an accident can be complicated. “In the state of Illinois, if someone has coverage, the adverse party becomes the primary payer of coverage depending on the injury.” According to Bizzieri, this means that in the most straightforward cases, the at-fault driver will pay for damages. However, this only works smoothly if the at-fault driver has enough insurance coverage to pay for all the damages. In such event, Bizzieri says that there is an alternative which allows one to make a claim against their own insurance company to recover the remainder.
“So, if you have $50K dollars of damage and the other driver has only $20K dollars of coverage, you can use what’s called ‘under-insured’ coverage which allows you to make a claim against your own insurance to cover the loss that was not covered by the adverse party,” Bizzieri says.
Furthermore, if there were multiple vehicles involved in the auto accident, they can all be held accountable for their fair share of the damage. “When there are multiple vehicles in a wreck, they are all jointly liable to the degree that you can hold them to it.” Bizzieri says this kind of case is known to auto accident attorneys in Chicago as joint and several liability law, and it is a way to determine who to collect from when multiple parties contribute to damages. A classic example of this involves a chain of cars where the last car in the chain rear-ends the one in front, causing each car in turn to rear-end the car ahead of them. The first car in the chain could then be pushed into oncoming traffic and suffer a serious injury, and joint and several liability law may allow him to collect from all the cars involved.
“As long as you have anybody that’s a proximate cause of your injury, they are liable,” Bizzieri explains. “If for some reason a jury should decide that you have two defendants, one who’s 94% at fault and one that’s 6% at fault, then the one with 6% fault only pays that much.”
Ultimately, regardless of insurance people should consider seeking the help of an experienced Chicago auto accident lawyer in the event of a car accident, as there will be countless other details at play in determining payouts that could affect your ability to recoup what’s owed to you.
*Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.