If I Have A No Fault Accident, Is It Still My Fault? The Facts About No Fault Car Insurance

If I Have A No Fault Accident, Is It Still My Fault? The Facts About No Fault Car Insurance

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When no-fault car insurance first hit the streets, there were two major objections. People who had gotten used to the liability (and therefore responsibility) of an at-fault system complained that a no-fault system let too many drivers get away with driving irresponsibly, and the lawyers complained about their loss of profits. While there isn't much you can do about the legal community, rest assured that irresponsible drivers are still paying the price for not paying attention behind the wheel.

If you're not familiar with the no-fault system (which most people who move from an at-fault state aren't, whether they've had the option to purchase no-fault car insurance or not), it works like this. Once upon a time, some scholars decided that the current system of having to chase down drivers and their insurance companies, make them admit their guilt (or wait for a judge to do it for them), and hope they got their act together and paid their debts was inefficient and unreliable.

Instead, they suggested a no-fault system. It doesn't matter whose fault the accident was, each driver would have their claims paid by their own insurance company and that would be the end of that. This would accomplish a number of things:

1)Courts would no longer be cluttered up by drivers seeking compensation not only for the damages to their vehicles, but also for medical bills, pain and suffering, etc. With a no-fault system, any damages that couldn't be calculated in cold, hard dollars and cents would cease to exist. Unless damages to the driver's person and/or vehicle are ridiculously excessive, litigation doesn't happen at all. (Can you see why the legal community hated this idea?)

2)Car insurance companies and their drivers wouldn't be frustrated by having to sit around and wait for another insurance company to pay their debts. Drivers would get back on the roads faster, and insurance companies could do business more efficiently without having to wait for claims from months or even years back.

3)It solves the problem of uninsured motorists, because drivers aren't waiting for those uninsured motorists to pay for their accident expenses.

Of course, as it always does in these types of situations, the issue of responsibility came up. Since drivers weren't going to be held liable for their accidents they could essentially drive as irresponsibly as they wanted, safe and secure in the knowledge that nothing bad was going to happen to them. The good news is, someone anticipated the poor outcome of that type of car insurance set-up. Although drivers aren't held liable for the damages they caused they still get to enjoy the same fines, tickets and premium increases that drivers who cause an accident in an at-fault state have to deal with.

So, to answer the question, yes, it's still your fault if you have an accident in a no-fault state, and you'll still be held liable by the legal system and your car insurance provider. You just won't be at risk for legal action from the driver you hit-which, considering how ridiculous some of today's lawsuits have become, might not be a bad thing after all.

About the Author:
Anthony M. Peck is the Senior Developer, Software Project Manager, and
Director of Business Development for QuoteScout.com. For more information aboutno-fault auto insurance, visit them on the web at http://www.QuoteScout.com.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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