I got into a car accident in Davenport, IA where an insured motorist ran a red light and totaled my car. I did not have car insurance at the time which I got ticketed for since it is an Iowa law, but I was just switching policies. Will this make a difference in the at fault party’s insurance paying for my medical bills and my car damages?

Judith

Davenport, IA

The state of Iowa does not have a compulsory insurance law but does require motorist to be financially responsible for car accident damage or injury. This means that Davenport, Iowa motorists are not required to carry Iowa car insurance, but if they do not they will need to provide another form of financial responsibility such as a bond. According to Iowa law, motorists that choose to provide proof of financial responsibility with Iowa car insurance must be covered for bodily injury and property damage liability. The minimum amount of these coverage’s allowed is 20/40/15. This represents that you must carry $20,000 for bodily injury per person, $40,000 for bodily injury per accident and $15,000 for property damage per accident.

The Iowa Financial and Safety Responsibility Act law protects Iowa drivers by suspending the driving and registration privileges of any individual who has not been able to provide financial responsibility following an accident. It also makes sure that any individual who had his/her driving privileges suspended or revoked because of certain convictions, an unsatisfied judgment, or a violation of implied consent laws, will be able to financially compensate others for future damages or injuries that the driver may cause. Even though you may be facing hefty penalties for being without insurance at the time of the accident, since you were not at fault, normally you would be able to make a claim with the at-fault party’s liability policy for your injuries and the car’s damages. I suggest you check with their insurer on how you would go about making your insurance claim.

What would happen to me if I got pulled over in Bend Oregon and I did not have car insurance?

Becky

Bend, OR

Failure to provide proof of car insurance to a police officer when requested, is a class B traffic violation in Oregon. The state of Oregon has a mandatory insurance law which requires every motorist to insure their car.

Driving without insurance in Ben Oregon can result in fines (averaging around $300), suspension of your drivers license and in some areas your car can be towed. If the court convicts you of driving without insurance, you will need to file proof of future financial responsibility (SR-22) with the Department of Motor Vehicle for three years or else your driving privileges will stay suspended.

If you are caught driving uninsured and are involved in an accident, your driving privileges will be suspended for a year. After the period ends on your suspension you will have to carry an SR-22 for three years.

When I am filing a car insurance accident report, how will traffic car insurance laws effect who is considered to be the at fault driver?

Ronny

Thanks for asking, Ronny.

I think that one of the greatest ways to get your car insurance accident claim done your own way is to be educated. Be the smart one in the situation, and impress your car insurance claim adjuster with your knowledge. So, let’s begin. What’s a good thing to know about when you need to prove that a car insurance accident wasn’t your fault? Car insurance law and state traffic laws. State traffic laws can be the biggest factor in showing that the other driver, while they may not have been a very direct cause to the accident, was at least reckless or negligent in some manner.

Traffic laws govern the way people drive, and it isn’t very hard to find out which ones rule the roads of your own state. The information is publicly available in your local library. The listing is usually called the complete vehicle code. Other places that you can get a hold of it are law libraries (which you can find in universities, usually, and if you want to find one somewhere else, just check the yellow pages) as well as the department of motor vehicles.

How do you use the complete vehicle code when making a car insurance accident claim? It’s simple, and it doesn’t really take very much time so long as you have a clear idea in your head of the event of your car insurance accident. Just look in the index section of the vehicle code book and try to find any sort of laws that might apply to your car insurance accident claim report. These might be things such as speed limits, or right of way, or stop sign laws. Once you find the laws that apply to you, don’t just scribble a note down. For the best effect, you need to have the entirety of the wording of the law, correctly, as well as the statute number. This way, when you submit it to your car insurance company they will be able to confirm what you are claiming. It is always good to have accurate data and sources when you are using information that is not simply from your memory. It’s the same principle when they require you to submit your medical bills and statements so that they can verify your car insurance accident injury claims.

What happens if you have trouble finding the right laws to apply to your car insurance accident? All you have to do is ask a librarian to help you. They know what they’re doing. This is why I always suggest going to the library over going to the department of motor vehicles–considering that, concerning the latter, we know that they don’t know what they’re doing, and don’t want to help you.

Traffic law violations are also often included in the police report if they happen. If this is the case with your car insurance accident, then you should reference the police report. However, you might find it necessary to look up your law anyway–just for extra back up.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Do I need to get uninsured motorist Florida car insurance coverage if I live in Tampa? I just need cheap liability coverage.

Charlie

Glad you asked, Charlie.

Uninsured motorist protection is not a required part of Florida car insurance coverage law, so really it all depends on your options and your priorities. The first thing that you need to consider, before you take in to mind any extenuating factors, is that no matter where you are, no fault state or no, there will be people driving without car insurance. Depending on what state you are in, it might not even be necessary to get extra coverage because of this, but this is still something that you should keep in mind.

First of all, in Florida they only offer one kind of uninsured motorist coverage, and that is for bodily injury. This can be a good idea to carry if you don’t have anything else that would cover the bodily injury of a victim of an accident caused by you if that victim did not carry car insurance coverage. However, it also provides protection for yourself in this area, and that is where it begins to become redundant. In Florida, you are already required to carry personal injury protection coverage, and then most people have health insurance on top of that. It is very unlikely that your health insurance coverage and your personal injury protection would run out after one accident, making it to where you need even more coverage.

One thing that you might consider when thinking about getting uninsured motorist coverage is the possibility of getting a pain and suffering benefit. This might not be possible if you do not have this type of car insurance coverage.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Now, some folks in Georgia are wondering if those good times have come to an end. A part time insurance agent, part time state representative has proposed another reform to the state’s insurance law which will actually reform it back to where it was before, with the commissioner not having the power to approve car insurance rate raises before the companies get to make them. The companies will be able to raise rates on their own.

The representative and his supporters say that this proposal will do well for Georgia’s economy. They say it will make car insurance companies more competitive, and will probably end up pushing the rates even lower. And, they say, if all else fails, the commissioner may not be able to approve rate increases, but he can still veto them after the fact.

However, opponents say that the rates would not go down if this proposal went forward. Everyone with a car has to have car insurance in Georgia, so these companies would be able to charge whatever they felt like because the customers don’t really have a choice. They say that the companies are only looking for a reason to get to raise the prices, and the way things are going now are just fine.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

If one of those above things happens and you aren’t insured in Florida, then you will have your license revoked for a period of three years. The only way to avoid this is to get Florida car insurance before the suspension of your license. It’s possible to get it very soon afterwards, but then you will have to pay a couple hundred dollars to get your license backed. Once you are with a car insurance company, they will have to file an SR 22 form in order to prove that you are insured with them, and SR 22 insurance tends to cost more than other types.

Florida is not new with its policy of having car insurance companies tell the DMV whenever they sell a new policy or when another one isn’t renewed. The DMV is informed that your car insurance policy is either canceled or not renewed, then you wil be required to prove that you have insurance or turn in your license plates. If you don’t do either of those, you’re looking at a license suspension of three years, yet again. No fault car insurance comes with its own requirements for coverage, and those are $10,000 PIP (personal injury protection) and $10,000 PDL (property damage liability). Unlike the minimum under the financial responsibility law, these amounts apply to you and your vehicle. This simplifies the claims process by keeping you with your own car insurance company.

Every time you lapse in your car insurance, the amount that you’ll have to pay to keep it goes up. The first time it’s one hundred and fifty, the second it’s two hundred, and the third it’s a whole five hundred dollars. Even if you don’t live in Florida for the whole year, so long as your car is there for three months (which don’t need to be all together), you have to be insured. One of the exceptions is if you use your car entirely for business, such as if you ar a taxi driver. If this is the case with you, then you don’t have to have insurance. However, if you get into a car accident while you are not insured, then after that you will be required to have SR 22 car insurance, which is more expensive.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.