If you need a long beach uninsured driver accident lawyer, the driver who hit you has no insurance or has coverage that does not begin to cover what your injuries actually cost. That discovery happens at the worst possible moment, usually when you are sitting on the side of Highway 90 in pain, the police officer is writing the report, and the other driver is handing you a card for a policy that lapsed six months ago. MS has one of the highest rates of uninsured drivers in the country, and the Long Beach corridor on Highway 90 is not exempt from that reality. The long beach uninsured driver accident lawyer you hire in the next few days determines whether you recover anything at all or whether you absorb the cost of what someone else did to you.

The answer to an uninsured driver claim is almost always your own insurance policy, and your own insurer is not on your side in that claim any more than a stranger’s insurer would be. They are a business. Every dollar they pay you on a UM claim reduces their profit. They will look for reasons to deny the claim, reduce the claim, or delay it until you get frustrated and accept less than you are owed. The TV lawyer on the Biloxi stations did not take your call. His secretary took it. She applied the formula. The formula does not account for an adversarial UM claim with your own insurer in Harrison County. A long beach uninsured driver accident lawyer who has fought those claims and knows how Harrison County courts resolve them does.

How Uninsured Motorist Coverage Works In Long Beach

A long beach uninsured driver accident lawyer begins every uninsured driver case by doing a full review of your auto insurance policy. MS law under Section 83-11-101 requires every auto insurer to offer uninsured motorist coverage. Most Long Beach drivers accepted that coverage when they bought their policies without fully understanding what they purchased. UM coverage pays your damages when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage, often called UIM, pays the gap when the at-fault driver has insurance but his limits are lower than your actual damages.

The limits on your UM and UIM coverage are set by what you bought, not by what your damages actually are. If your policy has $25,000 in UM coverage and your medical bills are $90,000, you have a $65,000 gap. Stacking is one option. In MS, if you have multiple vehicles on the same policy or multiple policies with the same insurer, stacking allows you to combine UM limits across those vehicles or policies in some circumstances. Whether stacking is available depends on your policy language. A long beach uninsured driver accident lawyer reads the policy to identify every available dollar before any settlement discussion begins.

Why Your Own Insurer Is Not Your Friend In A UM Claim

The TV lawyer’s formula breaks down in a UM claim because the adversary is your own insurance company. His formula was built for claims against the other driver’s insurer. When the other driver has no insurance, the claim goes against your own policy, and your own insurer becomes an adversary with the same incentives and the same tactics as any other insurance company trying to minimize a payout. The TV lawyer who has never litigated an adversarial UM claim in Harrison County Circuit Court in Gulfport is not the lawyer you want on that case. He will accept whatever they offer because he has a commercial bill due and his secretary cannot try a case.

MS law provides remedies when an insurer acts in bad faith in handling a UM claim. If your insurer denies a valid claim, delays unreasonably, or offers substantially less than the claim is worth without a reasonable basis for doing so, a bad faith claim against the insurer is available on top of the underlying UM claim. A long beach uninsured driver accident lawyer evaluates the insurer’s conduct throughout the process and pursues the bad faith angle when the conduct warrants it. That possibility changes the negotiating dynamic. An insurer that knows bad faith exposure is on the table is an insurer that settles UM claims faster and for more money.

What Happens When You Discover The Driver Is Uninsured At The Scene

The moment you learn the driver who hit you on Highway 90 in Long Beach has no valid insurance, your own policy becomes the vehicle for recovery. There are steps that protect that claim. File the police report and get the report number. Get all the other driver’s information even though his insurance is worthless. Photograph the scene, both vehicles, and your visible injuries. Seek medical treatment the same day at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport. Then call your own insurer to report the claim, but do not give a recorded statement and do not describe the extent of your injuries until you have a complete medical evaluation and legal counsel.

The gap in treatment is the most damaging thing you can give your own insurer after a UM claim. If you waited days or weeks to see a doctor, the insurer will argue your injuries are not as serious as claimed, are not related to the crash, or were caused by something else in the intervening period. That argument is easier to make when you wait. Get treatment immediately and let the medical record document the connection between the crash on Highway 90 and every injury you present with.

The Fee Guarantee

Every case I handle comes with a fee guarantee: you get more money in your pocket than I do. The TV lawyer filed a Bar complaint about that guarantee. It was thrown out. Your own insurer is now the adversary. The fee guarantee tells you I have been in that fight before.

Frequently Asked Questions: Long Beach Uninsured Driver Accident Cases

What do I do if the driver who hit me in Long Beach has no insurance?

Get the police report and all of the other driver’s information. Seek medical treatment immediately. Then report the claim to your own auto insurer under your uninsured motorist coverage. Do not give your insurer a recorded statement before you have legal counsel, and do not describe the extent of your injuries until your medical evaluation is complete. Your own insurer is the adversary in a UM claim, and everything you say to them before you have a lawyer can be used to reduce what they pay you.

Can I stack my UM coverage to get more money in Mississippi?

Stacking allows you to combine UM limits across multiple vehicles or policies in some circumstances under MS law. Whether stacking is available depends entirely on how your policy is written and how many vehicles are covered. Some policies have anti-stacking provisions that courts have upheld and some have not. A full policy review at the outset of the case identifies whether stacking is available and what the maximum UM coverage is across all sources.

What is bad faith and can I claim it against my own insurance company?

Bad faith is a legal claim available when an insurer denies a valid claim, delays unreasonably, or offers substantially less than the claim is worth without a reasonable basis. MS law recognizes bad faith claims against insurers, and when they apply the damages can include the full value of the underlying claim plus additional damages for the insurer’s conduct. The possibility of a bad faith claim changes the negotiating dynamic in UM cases because the insurer’s exposure expands significantly if they mishandle the claim.

What if the uninsured driver had some insurance but not enough for my injuries?

When the at-fault driver has insurance but his limits are lower than your actual damages, your underinsured motorist coverage applies to the gap. You first exhaust the at-fault driver’s policy, then make a UIM claim under your own policy for the difference up to your UIM limits. The same adversarial dynamic applies to UIM claims as to UM claims. Your own insurer is not on your side and will look for reasons to limit their exposure on the UIM payment.

How long do I have to file an uninsured motorist claim in Mississippi?

The general personal injury statute of limitations in MS is three years from the date of the crash. However, your own insurance policy may contain contractual notice requirements that are much shorter, sometimes as short as 30 days after the crash for initial notice of the UM claim. Failure to comply with those contractual deadlines can result in denial of coverage. A long beach uninsured driver accident lawyer reviews your policy the day you retain counsel to identify and comply with all applicable deadlines.

The Long Beach car wreck lawyer page covers the full range of crash cases handled in Harrison County Circuit Court in Gulfport. The Mississippi hit and run accident lawyer page covers statewide rules on UM claims and how to pursue them when the at-fault driver cannot pay. For guidance on what MS law requires insurers to offer and do, the Mississippi Insurance Department publishes consumer guidance on UM coverage and insurer obligations.

P.S. The driver who hit you had no insurance. Your own insurer is now the adversary, and they already know you probably do not have a lawyer who has fought a UM claim in Harrison County before. Get the FREE book first and learn what the adjuster’s first offer actually means.