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Getting hurt in a car accident is tragic and can lead to substantial damages. Whether or not you have insurance has nothing to do with whether or not you were at fault, and it is possible that victims who were injured through no fault of their own can still make a claim. However, they could be limited by Indiana’s “no pay, no play” laws.
After a crash, regardless of whether you have insurance, call 911, report the accident, and get medical attention. If you do not have car insurance, you may be limited in recovering “non-economic damages” like pain and suffering, but only if you have a prior violation for failing to carry insurance. If you have insurance but the other driver doesn’t, then you can potentially use your policy to help you out. If neither driver has insurance, a lawsuit might be your only way to recover.
Call Wruck Paupore’s West Lafayette car accident lawyers at (219) 322-1166 today for your free case review.
If you do not have insurance, you still have steps to take before filing your claims – and filing a claim is still usually permitted.
After a crash, whether the drivers have insurance or not, you should take the following steps:
Some states have “no pay, no play” rules that block drivers from getting damages or stop them from filing injury claims altogether if they do not meet the minimum insurance requirements in their state. Indiana is one of these states, with the law found at I.C. § 34-30-29.2-3.
If you are hurt in a crash, you can still file an insurance claim and sue the driver for damages. However, if you have a previous violation for failing to carry insurance, then you cannot sue for non-economic damages (i.e., pain and suffering); you can still get medical bills, lost wages, and other “economic” damages.
The steps you take after a crash where the other driver doesn’t have insurance start with the same steps you would take in any car accident case:
However, the steps after that are a bit different, depending on whether you have insurance.
If you have your own auto insurance policy and it is just the other driver who is without insurance, then you may have coverages on your policy to help you out. Many drivers opt for first-party benefits to cover injuries (medpay) and vehicle damage (collision coverage) after an accident, regardless of who caused it.
However, Indiana law also requires all insurance companies to offer uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM), which you have to reject in writing if you don’t want it. This means you might have up to $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident to cover you if the other driver has no insurance or has low insurance.
If you don’t have insurance, then you won’t have any first-party benefits or UM/UIM coverage. There may be another UM/UIM policy in your household, but it might not cover you if you are uninsured.
And since the other driver doesn’t have insurance either, the only option left to you is to file a lawsuit against them. Our South Bend, IN car accident lawyers can help you sue to hold them personally responsible for your damages, but this will be limited by how much the defendant can ultimately afford to pay.
Yes. The police who arrive at the scene may ticket you for failing to carry insurance if they investigate the crash and see that you were driving without insurance. However, it is more important that you still call the police anyway, even if you will end up with a ticket.
After that, you can correct the issue and get insurance to protect you in any future accidents and avoid future tickets.
“No pay, no play” rules limit an uninsured driver’s ability to file a claim for damages after a car accident. Some states have strict rules that block lawsuits altogether, while others limit non-economic damages.
Indiana does have a “no pay, no play” rule, but it is a lighter restriction than in some other states:
The ticket you might get on the day of the crash does not count as a previous, prior violation.
Because of Indiana’s “no pay, no play” rule, the damages you can claim after a crash can be limited if you had no insurance. However, it does not stop lawsuits altogether.
Our law stops you from getting pain and suffering and other non-economic damages, but it doesn’t block your right to sue. This restriction also comes into effect only if you have a previous violation for driving without insurance.
If you do not have insurance and you have a prior violation for driving without insurance, you cannot sue for pain and suffering damages. This means no damages for pain, mental anguish, emotional distress, disfigurement, etc. However, if you have no priors, you can sue for full damages.
If the other driver was insured, you can claim your damages from them. If they were also uninsured, you can only recover as much as they are able to pay out of pocket, meaning you may be left to pay for the other damages yourself.
For your free case review, call Wruck Paupore’s Indianapolis, IN car accident lawyers at (219) 322-1166.
Don is a founding partner and one of the nation’s top-ranked personal injury litigators. He is a member of the Multi-million Dollar Advocates Forum, which includes less than 1% of the nation’s trial lawyers, and awarded the highest ranking given by Martindale Hubbel and AVVO.
More importantly, Don understands representing personal injury victims is about more than recovering the best settlement: it’s about helping clients get back on their feet and supporting them in every aspect of their recovery.
In nearly all cases, our clients seek compensation from the wrongdoer’s insurance company. Before forming Wruck Paupore, Jason worked for a prominent law firm representing some of the world’s largest insurers. This experience gives Jason a deep understanding of the insurance industry and the strategies it uses to pay injury victims as little as possible.
Jason -- and our entire team -- put this inside knowledge to work to force insurance companies to pay what is actually owed. Often, we use the insurance company’s own tactics against them as we fight for the full compensation our client deserves.
For more than four decades, Keith has been fighting for injury victims. During that time, he’s watched the insurance industry change, with insurers now more interested in protecting their stock price than treating injury victims fairly.
Since the beginning, Keith has put people first. From his childhood in Gary, Indiana during the 1960’s and working his way through law school, Keith has risen to become one of the Midwest’s most respected trial lawyers. He has never forgotten that being a lawyer is about helping people -- and seeing injury victims through struggles in a way that could change their lives forever.
Over the decades, Keith, Don and Jason have fought relentlessly for clients, even when other lawyers have said the case was impossible to win.
Contact Us:
Wruck Paupore P.C.
Injury Lawyers
275 Joliet St. Suite #250
Dyer, IN 46311
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