Charleston Uninsured Motorist Accident Lawyer

Injured in a Charleston Car Accident Caused by an Uninsured Motorist?

The first step to take after suffering injuries in a vehicle accident with an uninsured driver is to find a Charleston car accident lawyer you can trust. At Allen Law, Julian Allen, the firm’s founder, is a former insurance defense attorney who understands exactly how insurance companies work, and how to successfully negotiate fair compensation for the Charleston car accident victims he represents.

When we take on a case, we deliver one-on-one, personalized counsel to the people we serve. For information about how to move forward, contact Allen Law at (843) 882-5005 for a free consultation.

As a smaller client-focused firm, we treat clients as real people — not file numbers”
- Julian Allen

Was the At-fault Driver Uninsured? Get Legal Help.

Under state law, all drivers operating vehicles in Charleston and the rest of South Carolina are required to have car insurance. Drivers are also required to have a minimum amount of “uninsured motorist” (UM) insurance to provide coverage when in an accident with an uninsured vehicle operator.

As reported by the Insurance Information Institute, almost 11 percent of the drivers sharing the roads, streets, and highways in Charleston have no valid auto insurance. In real-world terms, more than one in ten drivers around do not have auto insurance.

Claims and Lawsuits in Car Accidents with Uninsured Drivers

For those who are severely injured in a collision with an uninsured driver, the legal issues involved are more complicated. Your own UM insurance can be accessed but will rarely cover the actual financial and personal losses. Most drivers carry only the minimum UM insurance, with the following limits:

• $25,000 per person for bodily injury or death
• $50,000 for all persons injured or killed per accident
• $25,000 for property damage

A serious injury will typically incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs alone, not to mention other losses, such as loss of income from work, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, and many other types of damages. When the basic limits on your own UM insurance are exhausted, which could occur within one week of treatment, it can be challenging to know where to turn for help. With the help of an experienced personal injury attorney, all the options can be explored, which could include:

• Ensuring you have access to the insurance benefits you pay for under your own policy
• Filing a lawsuit against the at-fault driver to seek higher levels of compensation
• Filing an insurance bad faith claim against your insurer if they have failed to meet the terms in your policy.

What is Insurance Bad Faith?

You have consistently paid your car insurance premiums and other insurances and feel confident that if and when you need to file a claim, you are covered. The truth can be a shock. When an insurance company does not pay as required under the terms of the insurance contract, it is called “insurance bad faith.” Our firm’s founder, as a former insurance company defense lawyer, is very familiar with these claims – from both sides – an advantage his clients appreciate. Some of the common types of insurance bad faith include:

• Denying a legitimate claim
• Failing to investigate a claim in a timely manner
• Delaying paying a valid claim
• Paying just a portion of what the person is due under the policy
• Misrepresenting the language in an insurance contract when speaking to a client in an attempt to avoid paying a valid claim

If you or a loved one have been hit and injured by an uninsured driver, call Charleston car accident attorney Julian Allen at (843) 882-5005 to protect your legal rights!