Are You Protected in a Hit and Run by a Stolen Vehicle?
CRESCENT CITY, Calif. A recent story in The Daily Triplicate chronicled a serious head-on collision involving a 59 year-old Crescent City man heading to work and a 1999 Toyota pickup that had been stolen. The crash occurred on Lake Earl Drive in Crescent City near Red Hawk Lane. The driver of the Toyota fled the scene and has not been found. The injured 59 year-old gentleman was eventually flown to Providence Hospital in Medford, Ore. with serious injuries.
This tragic and unforgiveable collision raises a serious insurance question that people seldom think about until it happens to them. If the car that hit me flees the scene, or the driver takes off running, can I recover? What if the car that hits me was stolen, what then?
In California, it is mandatory that your automobile insurance carrier offer you Uninsured Motorist (UM) Coverage for this type of event. A purchaser of automobile insurance can “waive” UM coverage, but only in writing.
Uninsured Motorist coverage applies when in a “hit and run” situation. This means that even though you are never able to identify the driver, or perhaps the vehicle, that hit you, you may still recover by claiming against your own insurance company, under the Uninsured Motorist Coverage. You must, however, report the crash to law enforcement authorities within 24 hours.
Under this coverage, your insurance company becomes responsible for the damages and injuries that you received at the hands of the unknown “uninsured” driver. You pay a separate premium for this specific type of coverage, so making a claim for the coverage will not affect your premium rates. You only recover if the other party was at fault.
The stolen car situation also raises issues of Uninsured Motorist coverage. The car’s true owner may have insurance coverage on the car, but there will be an exemption in that policy if the car was stolen or its use was not “permissive.” Thus, if involved in a car crash with a vehicle that was stolen, even if you have been able to identify the other driver and owner, it is unlikely that there will be coverage for the event, so you will be required to pursue an uninsured motorist claim.
Over the years, our Redding lawyers have observed that many people either waive Uninsured Motorist Coverage, or keep the minimum of coverage. We constantly remind people that it is this type of coverage that protects you and your family. Therefore, we strongly encourage our clients to maintain as much Uninsured Motorist coverage as they can afford. If you think about it, if the main breadwinner of a family cannot work for 6 months or a year, will $15,000 in coverage be sufficient to take care of his medical bills, lost wages and other financial detriments? Of course not.
So, we advise our clients to review their policies with their insurance agents regularly, and make sure that they are getting adequate Uninsured Motorist Coverage to provide for themselves and their families in the event that one of these catastrophic events occurs.