Unfortunately, either for economic reasons or due to a mistake of some kind, people drive without insurance and they get into car\u00a0accidents.\u00a0\u00a0 If you are the party not at fault, you should understand your rights.\u00a0 The insurance companies give a lot of improper and wrong advice to people concerning this issue, and as a result people are not being offered proper settlements.<\/p>\n
Oregon law does attempt to punish\u00a0those who drive without insurance, even if they are the innocent party in the accident. The law has two main parts.\u00a0The first part\u00a0states generally that if you are the innocent party in an accident and you did not have proper insurance, you lose your right to seek money compensation for part of your claim.\u00a0\u00a0The second part\u00a0of the law lists a variety of exceptions to this limitation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The insurance company rarely ever explains that many people qualify for one of the exceptions.\u00a0 It is important to understand that Oregon law groups all damages into two categories: Economic Damages and Non-economic Damages.<\/p>\n
Economic Damages\u00a0include the following: medical bills, future medical bills, wage loss, future wage loss, car repair, property loss, impaired earnings capacity, diminished value of property, mileage expenses, and other losses that typically can be evaluated in a market society.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Non-economic damages include:\u00a0 pain, discomfort, loss of physical enjoyment, loss of being able to do hobbies and other activities.\u00a0\u00a0 These lists are not exhaustive.\u00a0\u00a0 If you are involved in an accident as the innocent party, but you do not have car insurance, Oregon law says that you\u00a0lose your right to seek compensation for non-economic damages.\u00a0\u00a0 You are still free to pursue compensation for any and all applicable Economic Damages.\u00a0\u00a0 This means, you still get your car paid for, you still get your lost wages, your medical expenses, and any other relevant economic losses.<\/p>\n
Again, the insurance company is not eager to tell you this.\u00a0 Often the insurance company will simply, and erroneously say, “I’m sorry, but you don’t have car\u00a0insurance so you aren’t entitled to a settlement.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many people believe this and walk away\u00a0and receive nothing for their economic loses.<\/p>\n
Remember, the law also provides a\u00a0number of exceptions. For instance, one of the exceptions indicates that if the uninsured driver had insurance within 180 days, (6 months) and has not received a ticket for driving uninsured\u00a0before the accident within the year before the last time they had insurance, then that person does not lose their pain and suffering portion of the settlement.\u00a0\u00a0 The wording of this exception can be a little confusing.\u00a0 To state it another way,\u00a0the uninsured person is asked two questions.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0First:\u00a0did you have insurance anytime in the 6 months before the accident?\u00a0 If the answer is “no”, then the exception doesn’t apply.\u00a0 If the answer is, “yes,” then we must ask the\u00a0second question.\u00a0\u00a0 “From the date that you last had insurance, in the\u00a0365 days before then\u00a0had you ever driven uninsured?\u00a0\u00a0 If the answer is, “no,” then you qualify for the exception and you can get your full settlement.<\/p>\n
This exception often applies because many people who are driving uninsured simply made a mistake in paying their insurance premium for a month, or they lost the bill, or they moved and didn’t get the bill.\u00a0 These people all had insurance within the 6 months before the accident and will\u00a0often meet the exception\u00a0and still get their full settlement.<\/p>\n
Another exception is when the at-fault driver was\u00a0cited for reckless driving.\u00a0 In this case, your settlement won\u2019t be limited by the fact that you were uninsured.\u00a0 Even if the driver was not actually cited for reckless driving, if you can prove to your jury that\u00a0the bad driver’s conduct was reckless, this exception can still apply.<\/p>\n
Another exception is when the at-fault driver was\u00a0intoxicated.\u00a0\u00a0 In this situation, again the exception will apply and the uninsured innocent party to the accident will not have their settlement limited.<\/p>\n
There are a few other exceptions that exist, but are less common.\u00a0\u00a0 So, the bottom line is, if you are the innocent party in an accident and you didn’t have car insurance, you should still contact an attorney.<\/p>\n
Maintaining car insurance is extremely important for many reasons.\u00a0\u00a0 There are several benefits that are more easily obtained if you have insurance when you are in an accident.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Unfortunately, either for economic reasons or due to a mistake of some kind, people drive without insurance and they get into car\u00a0accidents.\u00a0\u00a0 If you are the party not at fault, you should understand your rights.\u00a0 The insurance companies give a lot of improper and wrong advice to people concerning this issue, and as a result […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12,13,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accident","category-auto","category-car","category-liable"],"yoast_head":"\n