Ask An Attorney: Can I Recover From My Own Insurance If The At-Fault Driver Doesn't Have Enough Coverage?

When a cyclist is involved in an accident with a motor vehicle, the settlement is usually paid by the at-fault driver’s insurance policy. However, when that policy doesn’t sufficiently make the injured party “whole”, you need to look to other avenues for recovery. If the at-fault driver has any assets, your bike accident attorney can demand that the driver contribute personally to the settlement or seek to recover against the driver directly once a judgment has been obtained.

However, in most instances when a party is underinsured (ie. they have the state minimum $15,000 policy limit) or uninusred, they usually don’t have any recoverable money or assets. In a sense, they are “judgment proof.” This scenario is all too common in California. That’s why it’s important that you take steps to protect yourself through your own insurance policy. Most motor vehicle policies will cover you if you’re involved in an accident with a motor vehicle while on your bike. (You can call your insurance agent to confirm this coverage on your policy). To protect yourself from underinsured and uninsured motorists, you need to make sure that you have high underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage on your auto policy. I recommend getting at least $100,000 in underinsured and uninsured coverage in case you are involved in an accident with an underinsured or uninsured motorist.

Below is an example to show you how it could work.

Cyclist is struck and injured by Bad Driver Bob. Cyclist is seriously injured, fracturing his collar bone and tibia/fibula. Bob only has the State minimum $15,000 coverage on his car and has no assets. Bob’s insurance company quickly tenders the $15,000 to Cyclist, however this does not come close to compensating Cyclist for his medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc. Fortunately, Cyclist has $300,000 in underinsured coverage on his auto policy. After settling with Bob’s insurance carrier, Cyclist’s bike accident attorney tenders the claim to Cyclist’s own auto policy and Cyclist’s attorney is able to recover $285,000 ($300,000 UIM less the $15,000 already recovered from Bob’s policy) from Cyclist’s own policy.

As you can see from the example above, even though the at-fault driver had a minimal policy and no assets, if you take the proper steps to protect yourself through getting high UIM and UM coverage on your auto policy, you may be able to recover from your own insurance policy to help make you whole (or at least closer to whole) for your bike accident injuries.