Injured in an Accident With No Insurance

[Spider88390]

I was recently involved in a serious accident in which I was injured. The other party backed out of his driveway and I struck him. I heard him admit to the Police that the accident was his fault. My problem is that I was driving my separated wife's car. The car did not run and I had recently fixed it. She had a valid insurance card, but I have since discovered that she had let the insurance lapse because the car was inoperable. I was seriously injured in the accident and required major surgery to my right lung from hitting the steering wheel. My question is whether the other driver is still responsible for my injuries under ILLINOIS law?, And am I responsible for no insurance even if there was a valid insurance card in the vehicle.
Thank you...

[Betty3]

I assume you reported the accident to the other party's ins. co. If the other party is definitely determined to be at fault by the ins. co., then the other driver/other driver's ins. co. would be responsible for your medical bills/damages. However, the other co. would only pay up to their insured's policy limits. You would have to sue the at fault party if you want a larger settlement than offered.

If the other party was at fault, they would still be responsible for your medical bills/damages even though the car you were in was not insured at the time of the accident.

Did you happen to report the accident to your own ins. co.?

You may be responsible for driving the car w/o valid ins. since it was lapsed.

[moburkes]

I was recently involved in a serious accident in which I was injured. The other party backed out of his driveway and I struck him. I heard him admit to the Police that the accident was his fault. My problem is that I was driving my separated wife's car. The car did not run and I had recently fixed it. She had a valid insurance card, but I have since discovered that she had let the insurance lapse because the car was inoperable. I was seriously injured in the accident and required major surgery to my right lung from hitting the steering wheel. My question is whether the other driver is still responsible for my injuries under ILLINOIS law?, And am I responsible for no insurance even if there was a valid insurance card in the vehicle.
Thank you...

I'm guessing that the accident occurred in IN, although you worded it kinda funny. Your state doens't bar you from collecting since you don't have insurance. That's a good thing, for you. By the way, the insurance card wasn't valid if the insurance wasn't in effect. Yes, your license can still be suspended for driving without insurance. You aren't to rely on the card since the card is issued at the beginning of the term, sometimes before the term has even started, or before the renewal payment has been made, so it is not the determiner of coverage.

No need to contact your insurance company since you weren't insured at the time.

[Betty3]

No big deal (unless you know something different between Il. & In. re car ins. rules) but believe OP's state is Illinois (Il.) not Indiana (In.).

Mo, I was always under the assumption from my reading you should report any accident your in to your ins. co. (separated wife's ins. was lapsed but his might not have been) whether you were at fault or not, whether you were a passenger or driver & whether the car you were driving was your car or not. So in this case you're saying since the car was separated wife's car & her ins. was lapsed & other party was at fault, you only need to report acc. to at-fault driver's ins co.? I know you know this stuff since you are an ins. agt. so I want to have it straight in my mind since what I read was different. Thanks, Mo.

[moburkes]

No big deal (unless you know something different between Il. & In. re car ins. rules) but believe OP's state is Illinois (Il.) not Indiana (In.).

Mo, I was always under the assumption from my reading you should report any accident your in to your ins. co. (separated wife's ins. was lapsed but his might not have been) whether you were at fault or not, whether you were a passenger or driver & whether the car you were driving was your car or not. So in this case you're saying since the car was separated wife's car & her ins. was lapsed & other party was at fault, you only need to report acc. to at-fault driver's ins co.? I know you know this stuff since you are an ins. agt. so I want to have it straight in my mind since what I read was different. Thanks, Mo.

I meant, IL. Thanks for the correction. The reason why I said what I did about the insurance is because there was no coverage at the time - the policy had lapsed. Unless I misunderstood what he was trying to say.

Your insurance company asks you to report all accidents to them, but it actually complicates the situation if the at fault party's insurance company is handling things. If you involved your own insurance company, each conversation becomes a 3 way conversation instead of a 2 party conversation. Not literally, but just about.

[Spider88390]

Thank you for the reply . At the time of the accident I didn't own a vehicle myself so I had no insurance company to report to. I understand now that it was probably my responsibility to be sure that the car I was driving was insured. I was hoping that, under Illinois law, there might be some type of defense to driving without insurance, if the owner of the car had what appeared to be a valid insurance card in the vehicle. Because there was an insurance card that appeared on it's face to be valid, it did not occur to me to ask if the the insurance was valid. Since driving with no insurance is a criminal offense, I was curious as to whether some type of specific intent was required. It is one thing for a person to drive a vehicle knowing that there was no valid insurance and someone who was driving a vehicle that appeared to have valid insurance.
I guess it is a lessen to all that an insurance card in a vehicle doesn't necessarily mean that the vehicle is insured. This may seem like common sense to most people, but every vehicle I have ever owned has been properly insured and I just assumed, under Illinois law, that everyone else's vehicle is properly insured, especially if they have what appears to be a valid insurance card in the glove box.
Thanks again..

[moburkes]

No, there isn't a valid defense. Even if you don't own a vehicle, if you drive, you can purchase a non-owner's policy. It provides liability coverage.

[Betty3]

I meant, IL. Thanks for the correction. The reason why I said what I did about the insurance is because there was no coverage at the time - the policy had lapsed. Unless I misunderstood what he was trying to say.

Your insurance company asks you to report all accidents to them, but it actually complicates the situation if the at fault party's insurance company is handling things. If you involved your own insurance company, each conversation becomes a 3 way conversation instead of a 2 party conversation. Not literally, but just about.

Ok - thanks, Mo. Makes sense.