If you are negligent in operating your car, you could cause an accident. Therefore, the other driver might have a right to claim their own damage on your policy. Still, when accidents happen, it isn't always easy to determine whose policy will cover the costs. What if the crash involves three cars, for example?
Chain-reaction crashes can happen anywhere, at any time. Yet, you might or might not have to use your liability coverage for the losses of others.
Understanding Fault And Liability Coverage
If you hit another car because you were speeding and ran into it, then the accident is likely your fault. As a result, the other driver might be able to use your liability insurance to pay for their vehicle damage. All Florida drivers have to carry property damage liability insurance for this reason.
The coverage will compensate others for the damage they sustain as a result of your accident. They won't accrue any red marks on their own policy for damage that was not their fault. However, fault is not so easy to determine in every wreck.
Multiple factors go into determining who caused what damage. Therefore, if three parties become entangled, it can feel like you are at a fork in the road. Who pays for whose accident damage?
Which Of The Three Drivers Pays?
Should three cars collide, the police will perform an investigation. Insurance companies will likely also do their own investigations. They will then determine whose fault the accident was. If they determine you were at-fault, then your insurer will pay the other impacted drivers.
- If you run into another vehicle from behind, the accident is likely your fault. One exception, however, might be if the driver in front was doing something illegal. That could have caused the accident.
- If another car hits you, then pushes you into another vehicle, the accident might not be your fault. The other driver's hitting you was likely the cause of the accident.
- Still, even if another car hits you, that still might not make the accident their fault. If you were driving drunk, which is illegal, it might have contributed to the accident. Therefore, the accident could be your fault.
- Other accidents could make you at fault, even if you are the middle man. For example, if you followed another car too closely and hit them, the accident might still be your fault. Even if another car hits you from behind, you still might have accelerated the damage in this situation.
It will take time to determine fault in vehicle wrecks. Therefore, work closely with your Automatic Insurance agent following multi-car accidents. You will have a right to a fair evaluation while your agent determines fault.
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