It’s true that many car accidents happen near the driver’s home – but at the same time, accidents can occur far away from home, or at various inopportune times. It’s not always as easy as just saying “I’m insured.” Some sticky situations happen when a car accident just wasn’t a foreseeable outcome.
Out of State Car Accidents
When you have a car accident out of state, you’re sometimes dealing with a patchwork of laws. You have the state of the victim’s residence, the state of the at-fault driver’s residence, and the state where the accident happened. Different states have different insurance laws – things can get complicated.
In a best-case scenario, the insurance company will properly pay for the costs of an injury, quickly and without obstacles. But experienced car accident lawyers know that’s not always the way it works. Sometimes, car accident victims end up having to fight in court for the compensation that they deserve.
Casual Driving
Maybe you only drove the vehicle a few miles, and you encountered an accident.
Think about all of the times people go to test drive vehicles that they looked at on Craigslist. What’s the insurance situation there? It can be a real gray area – and if a high-speed test drive results in an unfortunate accident, it is going to require some close consultation with a car accident lawyer.
Rental Cars
Yes, you can get rental car insurance – but these types of policies can be a little bit vague or nebulous. The rental insurance policy is a temporary policy that has its flaws and quirks. An accident that involves a rented car can be more complicated to resolve – and in some cases, renters skimp on insurance to try to save money – regretting it later if they end up needing the coverage!
Business Vehicles
If you get in an accident with a business vehicle, there might be additional complications in how you resolve the case. Was the driver on the clock? Was the vehicle being used for business-related miles? How much of a business vehicle is it – in other words, how much of its annual mileage is used for business? Car accident attorneys may have to answer all of these questions to get to the bottom of a case where it’s not clear whether the crash was business-related or not.
Borrowing From, or Riding With, a Friend
So you borrow your friend’s car to get groceries – and you crash it. This is a tricky situation that may require legal consultation. Any time a driver is not the owner of the vehicle, there can be complications for resolving the accident case. Even if you just took the car “around the corner, “ not being explicitly covered can be a liability and something to talk to a car accident lawyer about.
These types of situations show how thorny car accident cases can require dedicated legal work after the fact. Talk to Steve Watrel about handling tricky crash situations in the Jacksonville Florida area.
