Limitation Of No-Fault Auto Accident Claims

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Learning About Personal Injury Attorney Services Hello, my name is Trudy Young. Welcome to my website about personal injury attorney services. When I was in college, I was involved in an accident that required several months of recovery. I was left with lasting pain and discomfort from the injuries after healing fully. Since another party was deemed at fault, I sought help from a personal injury attorney. On this site, I want to help others understand personal injury attorney services and know when to seek support from these skilled professionals. Please come by my website anytime you want to learn more about this topic. Thank you.

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In states with no-fault auto insurance systems, you are supposed to submit a claim to your own insurance company in case you are injured in an auto accident. Such a no-fault injury claim may help you get your compensation fast, but it does have its limitations. Here are some of those limitations:

It Does Not Compensate Noneconomic Damages

When you file a personal injury case against another motorist, you have the right to claim all kinds of damages as long as they stem from the defendant's negligence. This means you can claim both economic damages and noneconomic damages. Economic damages include monetary losses that can be objectively verified such as medical expenses and lost wages. Noneconomic damages are the damages that cannot be objectively verified quantitatively, such as emotional pain and loss of companionship. If you are restricted to a no-fault injury claim, you can only get compensation for economic damages and not noneconomic damages.

It Does Not Cover Property Damage

No-fault car insurance doesn't compensate for property damage. This is despite the fact that all types of car accidents result in property (think of the car) damages. In fact, you can have a car accident in which the property damage is more serious and costlier than the bodily injuries. For example, a minor car accident may leave you with a dent on your car's body, a broken window glass, a cracked laptop screen plus a few scratches from the flying glass. In such a case, if you are in a no-fault state, your insurance company will only compensate you for the cuts on your body, but not for the damages to your car.

It May Not Save You from the Complications of a Lawsuit

One of the reasons no-fault auto insurance was created was to save accident victims from the complexities of accident lawsuits. The idea is that if you are hurt in an accident, you should get compensation for your injuries without suing anyone so that you can get your compensation and get your life back on track as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, this isn't always the case because no-fault insurance will not compensate all your damages. There is usually a limit, either monetary limits or injury limits, on how much you can recover from your insurer. If your damages exceed your state's limit, then you are required to file an injury lawsuit against the negligent driver. This effectively defeats the main purpose of no-fault insurance. 

As you can see, a no-fault injury claim may not get you the entire compensation you might need after an auto accident. Therefore, if you have been involved in an accident in a no-fault state, consult a car accident lawyer, like Teresa P Williams, to help you explore other options of getting compensation.

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