Did You Know...? This Legal Loophole Could Hurt Your Car Crash Injury Claim
Make sure you have auto insurance for all of your family cars – even vehicles which are only in one spouse’s name! Otherwise a legal loophole could prevent a spouse from making a full claim when they are injured in a car crash in one of the family cars.
This loophole can leave you without proper compensation, even if you were a passenger at the time of the crash, are not named on the title for the car, and another driver was at fault.
Bisnar Chase recently handled a case in which a car accident victim was prevented from claiming full compensation due to the terms of California’s “Prop 213” regulation.
Prop 213 stipulates that uninsured drivers cannot recover a claim for non-economic damages, such as the pain and suffering they might be subjected to in a car accident.
In this case, the injured victim was a passenger at the time of the crash. She had never driven the car, and believed she had no ownership of the vehicle. It was owned and being driven by her husband, who was not at fault for the crash.
However, the wife was still blocked from claiming non-economic damages by the insurance firm, citing Prop 213. Since the facts indicated the car should be considered hers, too, despite the state of title, the husband’s failure to keep insurance in effect at the time of the accident also blocked her injury claim.
Take our advice – protect yourself by making sure your spouse has insured their vehicle.
For expert help in navigating car accident claims and legal gray areas, contact Bisnar Chase now
