No Fault Insurance
If you live in one of the twelve states (DC, FL, HI, KS, KY, MA,MI, MN, NJ, NY, ND, PA, UT) that are under a non-fault autoinsurance system, you can cause an accident, yet your insurancecompany won’t pay for the other parties’ damages. This means you live in a state that both requires drivers tocarry insurance for their own protection and places limitationson their ability to sue other drivers for damages. Your autoinsurance company will pay for your damages (up to your policylimits), regardless of whom was at fault for the accident. Anyother drivers involved will be covered by their auto insurancepolicies. Since all are required to carry insurance, in theory,there should be no uninsured motorists in those states, I didsay in theory.These states opted for the no fault insurance system because itguarantees every driver immediate medical treatment in the eventof an accident. Further, it's intended to reduce the legal andadministrative fees associated with insurance claims. Again, intheory, this should equate to lower premiums. Unfortunately,often times the liability issues that still remain will actuallydrive premium costs up. However, because no state is pure no fault, drivers can alwaysbe held financially responsible for the cost of injuries theycause in certain circumstances – that’s the loop hole. Somestates allow injured parties to sue if their injuries meetcertain standard for severity, while others allow it when totalcosts reach a certain dollar level. If you are involved in a accident, call the police no matter howsmall a bump it was. Do not let the other person leave thescene; if they try at the very least make sure you get theirnumber plate.If you have a camera phone use it to take a photo of the car andthe driver if possible. It is worth buying a disposable camerafor a few $ and leave it in the glove compartment for just suchemergencies.
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