Passengers and Accident Claims

Categories: Auto Accidents, Fault in Accident CasesPublished On: October 15th, 2016

Many passengers – especially spouses of at-fault drivers – will refuse to bring a claim against the person that was driving their vehicle. “That’s my husband” or “that’s my best friend” or “that’s my wife’s parents”- we hear it all the time. “I don’t want to bring a claim against them. It will raise their insurance rates.” We’re going to talk about insurance rates later, but when deciding about whether to bring a claim against someone, it’s important to mention right here and now that the person driving the car in a collision that is severe enough to injure one of his passengers has already taken all of the insurance hit that they’re going to take. That person’s premiums will increase in an accident involving bodily injury or an accident involving more than $1,000 in property damage. Regardless of the severity of the injury and regardless of how high the property damage is, they still get the same increase. So, to minimize treatment, suffer needlessly, and forgo a legal right for compensation because you don’t want to affect someone’s insurance rates is the result of a poor and uninformed decision. You should always check with an attorney about your options.

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