In a car accident it is not uncommon for more than one person to contribute fault that results in the car accident. In fact it could be a combination of things or events that result in the car accident. For example, it may be the drivers of two other vehicles or another vehicle plus a road hazard. This article will discuss how to file a claim under the circumstances where there is more than one person responsible for the car accident.No matter what the combination is that leads up to the accident if more than one person contributed to the accident it is necessary to file a claim under the liability insurance of both individuals. It is important to note that while you may be filing a claim against two different parties you cannot collect more than the full amount of your damages from all the parties together. However, you can collect up to the entire amount of your damages from any one of them. This is dependent upon the percentage of fault as well as your comparative fault with regards to the accident. In the event that the coverage of one person at fault is not adequate enough to cover all your damages you can collect the remainder of what your claim is worth from the other person who is at fault.
One article provides the following example: “let us assume you are involved in a car collision with cars driven by Anice and Jim. You file a claim against both of them. Anice was most at fault, so her insurance company pays you up to the limits of her liability coverage of $15,000. But your total damage claim was worth $20,000. You can collect the remaining $5,000 value of your damages from Jim’s insurance company.
If you find yourself in a situation where more than one driver’s car insurance policy can kick in to cover your damages, generally, what happens is one policy is deemed to provide “primary” coverage while “secondary” or “excess” coverage is provided by another policy. The secondary policy only kicks in if the primary policy does not pay for all of your damages. Therefore, if you were injured and are entitled to $20,000 in damages but the driver of the other car has only $15,000 worth of liability insurance coverage. You could collect that $15,000 under the driver’s primary insurance coverage and if another person is partly responsible you would collect the remaining $5,000 from the insurance company issuing that secondary coverage.
One attorney notes that, “it is not the responsibility of the injured person to figure out which one of the other drivers should pay them first or who has the primary coverage. Once the injured person notifies the insurance companies for both of the legally responsible drivers for the accident, the companies will decide between themselves which will be the primary coverage and which will be the secondary coverage. Thereafter, you can negotiate a settlement with the insurance company that identifies itself as the primary coverage and settle with the secondary company only if the primary coverage is not enough.”
It is important that before you file a car accident lawsuit that you consider talking to a personal injury attorney handling car accident in Sylmar.
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