Massachusetts requires multiple kinds of insurance including both liability insurance and no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. You also have to carry insurance to protect yourself and your passengers against injuries caused by someone driving an uninsured vehicle.
After a crash, you can make a claim against your own policy for any injuries that you and your passengers suffer. You can also make a claim against the other driver’s policy for injury expenses that exceed your PIP coverage and property damage.
How serious is your risk of getting into a wreck with a driver who doesn’t have insurance?
Your risk for an uninsured collision is low in Massachusetts
Despite having higher insurance requirements than many other states, Massachusetts has a relatively low rate of uninsured drivers. With just 3.5% of drivers uninsured, Massachusetts has the second-lowest rate in the country, behind New Jersey.
Some drivers make a mistake and forget to pay a bill on time, leading to a lapse in their motor vehicle insurance coverage. Other drivers might cancel their policy intentionally. In either case, the driver without an active policy causes a crash with your vehicle, you will have fewer options for making an insurance claim if you have significant injuries or your vehicle suffered extensive damage.
You will need to rely on your own coverage
Typically, insurance companies make the uninsured motorist protection on their policies mirror the liability coverage that the driver paid for on the policy. If you have a state minimum liability policy with only $20,000 of bodily injury coverage, that will likely be the maximum amount of uninsured motorist protection available as well.
The more generous your policy, the more medical expenses and lost wages you can count on your provider covering for you. Of course, making a large claim against your own insurance policy will affect what you pay for coverage in the future. Some drivers make choose to file a civil lawsuit against an uninsured driver who has caused a crash with significant injuries or substantial property damage.
Learning more about your insurance coverage and legal rights after a serious motor vehicle collision can help you get the compensation necessary to cover your costs.
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