Dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia can be complex and nerve-wracking, especially for injury victims who have compensatory damages, such as medical bills, lost income, property damages, and pain and suffering.

While motorists are required to have insurance in West Virginia, an alarming number remain uninsured. Driving without insurance is a misdemeanor in West Virginia. If convicted, uninsured motorists are fined no less than $200 or more than $5,000.

A second subsequent conviction of driving without insurance imposes the same minimum and maximum fine amount; however, it also includes mandatory jail time of 15 days with no more than a year ordered.

Contact a local Morgantown car accident attorney to explore your legal options when dealing with an uninsured motorist in West Virginia. They can seek financial compensation for your injuries.

West Virginia Automobile Insurance Mandatory Limits

West Virginia has mandatory minimum coverage insurance requirements, including uninsured motorist coverage. The Insurance Commissioner of West Virginia reports these amounts to be:

• Liability: $25,000 per person/$50,000 per accident.
• Property Damage: $25,000 per accident.
• Uninsured Motorist: $25,000 per person/$50,000 per accident.
• Uninsured Motorist Property Damage: $25,000 per accident.

West Virginia law also requires all insurers to offer higher optional uninsured motorist coverage limits. They also must provide the option to purchase underinsured motorist coverage. The mandatory, optional offering of insurance coverage is as follows:

• Uninsured Motorist (UM) Maximum —property damage is $50,000, and bodily injury’s minimum is $100,000, with a maximum coverage of $300,000 per accident.
• Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Minimum —property damage is $25,000, and bodily injury’s minimum is $25,000, with a maximum coverage of $50,000 per accident. Increased underinsured motorist coverage may be purchased up to the liability coverage limits on the motorist’s policy.

Dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia largely depends on the type of insurance coverage you have with your provider. Even with uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage on your policy, having an experienced personal injury lawyer represent your legal rights ensures negotiations for maximum settlement payouts.

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What If an Uninsured Driver Was Driving an Insured Vehicle?

If the uninsured driver drives an insured vehicle, you may recover compensation for your injuries and losses. Vicarious liability holds employers liable for the actions of their employees behind the wheel, regardless of whether they directly caused the harm.

Peer-to-peer car-sharing programs and the owner of a shared vehicle are exceptions to vicarious liability in an uninsured motor vehicle accident. If the at-fault driver is not exempt, you’ll want to consult a lawyer immediately to determine how to secure financial compensation for your accident and injuries.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Dealing with Uninsured Motorists in West Virginia?

The West Virginia statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit against an uninsured motorist is two years from the accident date. Filing a direct claim against your insurance company for uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist benefits may permit more time. Your insurer can clarify any extensions with you and your car accident attorney.

What to Do After an Accident With an Uninsured Motorist in West Virginia

Injury victims must do a few things following an accident with an uninsured motorist in West Virginia. These include seeking medical treatment, following your recovery plan, documenting your accident and injuries, and hiring an uninsured motorist lawyer to handle your claim and maximize compensation.

Seek Medical Care

After any motor vehicle collision, it is important to be medically evaluated and have any injuries assessed, documented, and treated. Even if you don’t feel injured, you should get an assessment because there are several common hidden injuries associated with car accidents they may screen for, such as:

• Whiplash
• Concussion
• Internal injuries
• Internal bleeding
• Back and spine injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Soft tissue injuries (sprains and strains)

Many hidden injuries will grow progressively worse and even become fatal if left undiagnosed and untreated. Don’t ignore symptoms of injury or delay medical treatment. Even a mild headache can be a serious indicator of an underlying injury.

Follow Your Recovery Plan

After being evaluated, your physician or emergency doctor will provide a discharge summary with a treatment recovery plan. For example, your recovery plan may include physical therapy and massage if you have soft tissue injuries. You must follow your after-care instructions to avoid delaying recovery or worsening injuries.

Document Your Accident and Injuries

Another significant responsibility of dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia is adequately documenting the accident, your injuries, and any losses incurred from the crash. To report these, keep a post-accident journal with dated and detailed entries about the following:

• Your personal account of how the accident occurred, including the time and location of collision, weather, and road conditions.
• Pain levels, including activities that worsen pain or that you’re incapable of doing because of the pain.
• Your inability to perform daily tasks without difficulty, such as bathing, cooking, laundry, and other chores.
• Sleep disturbances, such as pain, insomnia, nightmares, or excessive sleeping.
• Your emotional state and well-being following the accident, including mood changes and feelings of stress, fear, anxiety, and depression.
• The financial impact of the collision, including lost income, medical bills, transportation costs, and household services.
• Medical information accounting for doctors and specialists who have seen you, conversations had about your injuries, the severity of your injuries, and how your pain has changed over time.

Keeping a file folder or accordion file for all your paperwork is also highly advised. If you’re injured, dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia involves a ton of paperwork. File all medical bills, rehabilitation statements, vehicle-repair involvements, and photos of your accident scene and injuries, and ensure your attorney has copies.

Hire an Uninsured Motorist Car Accident Attorney

Once you’ve been medically evaluated, schedule a free consultation with an uninsured motorist accident lawyer. Dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia can be complicated and lengthy. You’ll want to develop a legal strategy for your insurance claim.

How Can a Car Accident Lawyer Help With an Uninsured Motorist Claim in West Virginia?

An experienced uninsured motorist lawyer will help by filing a claim through your insurer, handling communications with your insurer, identifying all liable parties, thoroughly investigating your accident, and negotiating a fair settlement.

Filing an Uninsured Motorist Claim Through Your Insurer

A car accident attorney can explain your insurance policy, including coverage limits and statutes of limitations. After evaluating your policy and discussing strategy, your attorney will file an uninsured motorist claim through your insurer.

Handling Communications With Your Insurance Company

Another significant benefit to retaining a West Virginia car accident lawyer is that they assume responsibility for all communications with insurers. This barrier protects accident injury victims from being pressured to settle too soon or for too little money.

Providing a Thorough Investigation Into Your Accident

Investigating your accident with an uninsured motorist can involve many factors depending on the circumstances of your collision. To determine all liable parties before sending a demand letter to insurers, your attorney will:

• Evidence Collection and Preservation: Your lawyer will gather and preserve evidence of negligence and liability, such as police and accident reports, photos of the accident scene (skid marks and vehicle damage), video footage of the accident, dashcam footage, and medical records.
• Identifying and Interviewing Eyewitnesses: Police reports will include witness statements collected by the responding officer. Your attorney will contact those witnesses to reinterview them, verify their statements, and gather any new information they may remember. They may also investigate the possibility of other potential witnesses and collect their testimony to help prove negligence.
• Accident Reconstruction Specialists: Your lawyer may work with accident reconstruction specialists to recreate your collision. Using principles from mathematics, physics, and engineering, accident reconstruction specialists can determine the cause and events of an accident with an uninsured motorist. They achieve this using computer programs to create 3D models and animations of the collision.

After your attorney has gathered all evidence, interviewed witnesses, and worked with accident reconstruction specialists, they are better equipped to analyze the findings and present them in a way that proves negligence and liability.

Working With Experts

A big part of a thorough investigation is working with their network of experts to help cement liability and maximize the damages of your claim. Experts your attorney may consult include:

• Healthcare professionals
• Mental health specialists
• Vocational rehabilitation and occupational therapists
• Economists
• Engineering experts
• Vehicle safety and highway safety experts

Another valuable asset is their expert testimony, especially when filing a lawsuit against the uninsured motorist. Having experts in their respective fields lends credibility to your case, which may be the difference between securing compensation and denying your claim.

Calculate Your Losses

There are many factors to consider when calculating losses and determining damages. Typical damages in a motor vehicle accident include:

• Medical and rehabilitation bills
• Lost wages and benefits
• Vehicle-related damages or replacement
• Other property damages for anything damaged or destroyed in the collision
• Hired household services needed during recovery
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Psychological trauma
• Decreased quality of life
• Loss of companionship

Surviving victims of wrongful death may also be entitled to file an insurance claim to cover funeral and burial expenses, lost income, and final medical costs of the deceased.

Negotiating a Fair Settlement

An important thing to know is that your insurance company will not pay you the maximum benefit payout because you have uninsured motorist coverage. If you think you will automatically receive a check for $25,000 or $50,000 because you have UM coverage, that’s not how it works.

You’ll have to negotiate for a fair settlement. You may believe that because it is your insurer that they care and want to help. After all, you’ve paid for the coverage. However, an insurance claim adjuster’s job is to minimize what their company pays out. They will try to cut you a check for as little as they can get away with and notoriously start with incredibly low offers.

Lawyers are confident and skilled negotiators with experience that most unrepresented accident victims do not possess. Having a negotiator demand fair compensation on your behalf may be invaluable to the outcome.

Can You Sue an Uninsured Motorist in West Virginia?

If you’re wondering if you can sue an uninsured motorist after an accident, the answer is yes. However, it may be complex, and you may not get paid, even if you win the lawsuit.

Proving Negligence

To be awarded compensation, your attorney must prove the four elements of negligence: owed duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. In an uninsured motorist accident that resembles the following:

• The uninsured motorist had a duty of care to drive safely by obeying traffic laws, including carrying required insurance.
• The uninsured motorist breached the duty by not having insurance.
• The breach caused your injuries.
• The breach resulted in damages, such as medical bills, income losses, and vehicle repairs or replacement.

Uninsured drivers may not have the financial means or resources to pay the settlement, even if you are awarded compensation in a lawsuit. If the driver cannot pay directly, you may file a claim against assets owned by the driver.

Schedule a free consultation with a local car accident lawyer to discuss the circumstances of your case. They will advise you best once they understand your specifics.

Dealing with Uninsured Motorists in West Virginia

Dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia can be complex and nerve-wracking, especially for injury victims who have compensatory damages, such as medical bills, lost income, property damages, and pain and suffering.

While motorists are required to have insurance in West Virginia, an alarming number remain uninsured. Driving without insurance is a misdemeanor in West Virginia. If convicted, uninsured motorists are fined no less than $200 or more than $5,000.

A second subsequent conviction of driving without insurance imposes the same minimum and maximum fine amount; however, it also includes mandatory jail time of 15 days with no more than a year ordered.

Contact a local car accident attorney to explore your legal options when dealing with an uninsured motorist in West Virginia. They can seek financial compensation for your injuries.

West Virginia Automobile Insurance Mandatory Limits

West Virginia has mandatory minimum coverage insurance requirements, including uninsured motorist coverage. The Insurance Commissioner of West Virginia reports these amounts to be:

• Liability: $25,000 per person/$50,000 per accident.
• Property Damage: $25,000 per accident.
• Uninsured Motorist: $25,000 per person/$50,000 per accident.
• Uninsured Motorist Property Damage: $25,000 per accident.

West Virginia law also requires all insurers to offer higher optional uninsured motorist coverage limits. They also must provide the option to purchase underinsured motorist coverage. The mandatory, optional offering of insurance coverage is as follows:

• Uninsured Motorist (UM) Maximum —property damage is $50,000, and bodily injury’s minimum is $100,000, with a maximum coverage of $300,000 per accident.
• Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Minimum —property damage is $25,000, and bodily injury’s minimum is $25,000, with a maximum coverage of $50,000 per accident. Increased underinsured motorist coverage may be purchased up to the liability coverage limits on the motorist’s policy.

Dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia largely depends on the type of insurance coverage you have with your provider. Even with uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage on your policy, having an experienced personal injury lawyer represent your legal rights ensures negotiations for maximum settlement payouts.

Who Pays Compensation After an Accident With an Uninsured Motorist in West Virginia?

Dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia usually means securing compensation from your own insurance policy to cover financial losses and other damages incurred in the accident. For example, you may use your collision to cover vehicle damages incurred in the accident.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage helps pay expenses for you and injured passengers, regardless of who was at fault for the collision. PIP can cover all medical costs, lost income, funeral expenses, and loss of services.

MedPay coverage through your insurer also covers medical bills, regardless of who is at fault in an uninsured motorist accident in West Virginia. However, unlike PIP insurance, it does not cover lost earnings or pain and suffering damages.

What If an Uninsured Driver Was Driving an Insured Vehicle?

If the uninsured driver drives an insured vehicle, you may recover compensation for your injuries and losses. Vicarious liability holds employers liable for the actions of their employees behind the wheel, regardless of whether they directly caused the harm.

Peer-to-peer car-sharing programs and the owner of a shared vehicle are exceptions to vicarious liability in an uninsured motor vehicle accident. If the at-fault driver is not exempt, you’ll want to consult a lawyer immediately to determine how to secure financial compensation for your accident and injuries.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Dealing with Uninsured Motorists in West Virginia?

The West Virginia statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit against an uninsured motorist is two years from the accident date. Filing a direct claim against your insurance company for uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist benefits may permit more time. Your insurer can clarify any extensions with you and your car accident attorney.

What to Do After an Accident With an Uninsured Motorist in West Virginia

Injury victims must do a few things following an accident with an uninsured motorist in West Virginia. These include seeking medical treatment, following your recovery plan, documenting your accident and injuries, and hiring an uninsured motorist lawyer to handle your claim and maximize compensation.

Seek Medical Care

After any motor vehicle collision, it is important to be medically evaluated and have any injuries assessed, documented, and treated. Even if you don’t feel injured, you should get an assessment because there are several common hidden injuries associated with car accidents they may screen for, such as:

• Whiplash
• Concussion
• Internal injuries
• Internal bleeding
• Back and spine injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Soft tissue injuries (sprains and strains)

Many hidden injuries will grow progressively worse and even become fatal if left undiagnosed and untreated. Don’t ignore symptoms of injury or delay medical treatment. Even a mild headache can be a serious indicator of an underlying injury.

Follow Your Recovery Plan

After being evaluated, your physician or emergency doctor will provide a discharge summary with a treatment recovery plan. For example, your recovery plan may include physical therapy and massage if you have soft tissue injuries. You must follow your after-care instructions to avoid delaying recovery or worsening injuries.

Document Your Accident and Injuries

Another significant responsibility of dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia is adequately documenting the accident, your injuries, and any losses incurred from the crash. To report these, keep a post-accident journal with dated and detailed entries about the following:

• Your personal account of how the accident occurred, including the time and location of collision, weather, and road conditions.
• Pain levels, including activities that worsen pain or that you’re incapable of doing because of the pain.
• Your inability to perform daily tasks without difficulty, such as bathing, cooking, laundry, and other chores.
• Sleep disturbances, such as pain, insomnia, nightmares, or excessive sleeping.
• Your emotional state and well-being following the accident, including mood changes and feelings of stress, fear, anxiety, and depression.
• The financial impact of the collision, including lost income, medical bills, transportation costs, and household services.
• Medical information accounting for doctors and specialists who have seen you, conversations had about your injuries, the severity of your injuries, and how your pain has changed over time.

Keeping a file folder or accordion file for all your paperwork is also highly advised. If you’re injured, dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia involves a ton of paperwork. File all medical bills, rehabilitation statements, vehicle-repair involvements, and photos of your accident scene and injuries, and ensure your attorney has copies.

Hire an Uninsured Motorist Car Accident Attorney

Once you’ve been medically evaluated, schedule a free consultation with an uninsured motorist accident lawyer. Dealing with uninsured motorists in West Virginia can be complicated and lengthy. You’ll want to develop a legal strategy for your insurance claim.

How Can a Car Accident Lawyer Help With an Uninsured Motorist Claim in West Virginia?

An experienced uninsured motorist lawyer will help by filing a claim through your insurer, handling communications with your insurer, identifying all liable parties, thoroughly investigating your accident, and negotiating a fair settlement.

Filing an Uninsured Motorist Claim Through Your Insurer

A car accident attorney can explain your insurance policy, including coverage limits and statutes of limitations. After evaluating your policy and discussing strategy, your attorney will file an uninsured motorist claim through your insurer.

Handling Communications With Your Insurance Company

Another significant benefit to retaining a West Virginia car accident lawyer is that they assume responsibility for all communications with insurers. This barrier protects accident injury victims from being pressured to settle too soon or for too little money.

Providing a Thorough Investigation Into Your Accident

Investigating your accident with an uninsured motorist can involve many factors depending on the circumstances of your collision. To determine all liable parties before sending a demand letter to insurers, your attorney will:

• Evidence Collection and Preservation: Your lawyer will gather and preserve evidence of negligence and liability, such as police and accident reports, photos of the accident scene (skid marks and vehicle damage), video footage of the accident, dashcam footage, and medical records.
• Identifying and Interviewing Eyewitnesses: Police reports will include witness statements collected by the responding officer. Your attorney will contact those witnesses to reinterview them, verify their statements, and gather any new information they may remember. They may also investigate the possibility of other potential witnesses and collect their testimony to help prove negligence.
• Accident Reconstruction Specialists: Your lawyer may work with accident reconstruction specialists to recreate your collision. Using principles from mathematics, physics, and engineering, accident reconstruction specialists can determine the cause and events of an accident with an uninsured motorist. They achieve this using computer programs to create 3D models and animations of the collision.

After your attorney has gathered all evidence, interviewed witnesses, and worked with accident reconstruction specialists, they are better equipped to analyze the findings and present them in a way that proves negligence and liability.

Working With Experts

A big part of a thorough investigation is working with their network of experts to help cement liability and maximize the damages of your claim. Experts your attorney may consult include:

• Healthcare professionals
• Mental health specialists
• Vocational rehabilitation and occupational therapists
• Economists
• Engineering experts
• Vehicle safety and highway safety experts

Another valuable asset is their expert testimony, especially when filing a lawsuit against the uninsured motorist. Having experts in their respective fields lends credibility to your case, which may be the difference between securing compensation and denying your claim.

Calculate Your Losses

There are many factors to consider when calculating losses and determining damages. Typical damages in a motor vehicle accident include:

• Medical and rehabilitation bills
• Lost wages and benefits
• Vehicle-related damages or replacement
• Other property damages for anything damaged or destroyed in the collision
• Hired household services needed during recovery
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Psychological trauma
• Decreased quality of life
• Loss of companionship

Surviving victims of wrongful death may also be entitled to file an insurance claim to cover funeral and burial expenses, lost income, and final medical costs of the deceased.

Negotiating a Fair Settlement

An important thing to know is that your insurance company will not pay you the maximum benefit payout because you have uninsured motorist coverage. If you think you will automatically receive a check for $25,000 or $50,000 because you have UM coverage, that’s not how it works.

You’ll have to negotiate for a fair settlement. You may believe that because it is your insurer that they care and want to help. After all, you’ve paid for the coverage. However, an insurance claim adjuster’s job is to minimize what their company pays out. They will try to cut you a check for as little as they can get away with and notoriously start with incredibly low offers.

Lawyers are confident and skilled negotiators with experience that most unrepresented accident victims do not possess. Having a negotiator demand fair compensation on your behalf may be invaluable to the outcome.

Can You Sue an Uninsured Motorist in West Virginia?

If you’re wondering if you can sue an uninsured motorist after an accident, the answer is yes. However, it may be complex, and you may not get paid, even if you win the lawsuit.

Proving Negligence

To be awarded compensation, your attorney must prove the four elements of negligence: owed duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. In an uninsured motorist accident that resembles the following:

Jeff Robinette, Morgantown Car Accident Attorney

• The uninsured motorist had a duty of care to drive safely by obeying traffic laws, including carrying required insurance.
• The uninsured motorist breached the duty by not having insurance.
• The breach caused your injuries.
• The breach resulted in damages, such as medical bills, income losses, and vehicle repairs or replacement.

Uninsured drivers may not have the financial means or resources to pay the settlement, even if you are awarded compensation in a lawsuit. If the driver cannot pay directly, you may file a claim against assets owned by the driver.

Schedule a free consultation with a local Morgantown personal injury lawyer to discuss the circumstances of your case. They will advise you best once they understand your specifics.