Who do you still have a claim against if you get into a West Palm Beach Florida car accident and the other driver is an uninsured motorist?

You may still have a claim against the UM carrier. (Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage is typically coverage that the injured victim has through their insurance carrier). Generally, an action against the UM carrier does not require an action against the tortfeasor, (the person who caused the car accident and hurt you). Jones v. Integral Insurance Co., 631 So.2d 1132 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994); Soliday v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 497 So.2d 717 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); Arrieta v. Volkswagen Insurance Co., 343 So.2d 918 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977). Even if any claim against the tortfeasor has expired due to the statute of limitation (you only have 4 years to sue the othe drive in most cases), the UM claim may be pursued (you ave 5 years to sue the UM insuracne carrier) Jones.

Here is an example to show how this works.
Driver A gets into a car accident with Driver B. Driver B had very little or no insurance. Driver A sustains very bad injuries, like a broken arm or leg. Let us say that the driver A sustains injuries and has $40,000 worth of damages which a jury may award him at car accident trial but Driver B only has $10,000 of car insurance. Where can Driver A get compensated for his $30,000 worth of injuries if Driver B only has $10,000 worth of coverage? There are many ways to get compensated but we are only looking at uninsured motorist coverage.

If Driver A previously purchased $50,000 worth of uninsured motorist coverage prior to the acciden then even when Driver B says, "Hey I'm sorry man, I only have $10,000 to pay you." Your West Palm Beach car accident attorney can send a demand letter to the UM carrier and instruct them to accept the $10,000 from Driver B because that is all the insurance he has. Then you Palm Beach County Car accident attorney can go after with a claim against the UM carrier for the remaining $30,000 worth of damages. That is one way that you can recover for your injuries when you are involved in an accident in West Palm Beach and the other driver doesn't have adequate insurance. The UM coverage acts almost like a replacement insurer for the underinsured driver and steps into the shoes of the negligent motorist. This is also why you need to be very careful when yo buy Uninsured motorist insurance, make sure you buy plenty of coverage, since other Florida drivers alre onlu required to purchase 10,000.00 in PIP insurance, many of them could choose not to even have bodily injury insurance, and heneceforth even if they pile in to you there may be nothing you can do.

F.S. 627.727(6)(b) provides that, after the UM carrier has paid the insured the amount of the settlement offered by the tortfeasor, "upon final resolution of the underinsured motorist claim, the underinsured motorist insurer is entitled to seek subrogation against the underinsured motorist and the liability insurer for the amounts paid to the injured party." This language makes it clear that the legislature no longer intends the insured to be forced into litigation with both the tortfeasor and the UM carrier, by specifically authorizing the UM carrier to pursue the tortfeasor and the liability insurer after the final resolution of the UM claim.

627.727 Motor vehicle insurance; uninsured and underinsured vehicle coverage; insolvent insurer protection.--

(6)(a) If an injured person or, in the case of death, the personal representative agrees to settle a claim with a liability insurer and its insured, and such settlement would not fully satisfy the claim for personal injuries or wrongful death so as to create an underinsured motorist claim, then written notice of the proposed settlement must be submitted by certified or registered mail to all underinsured motorist insurers that provide coverage. The underinsured motorist insurer then has a period of 30 days after receipt thereof to consider authorization of the settlement or retention of subrogation rights. If an underinsured motorist insurer authorizes settlement or fails to respond as required by paragraph (b) to the settlement request within the 30-day period, the injured party may proceed to execute a full release in favor of the underinsured motorist's liability insurer and its insured and finalize the proposed settlement without prejudice to any underinsured motorist claim.
(b) If an underinsured motorist insurer chooses to preserve its subrogation rights by refusing permission to settle, the underinsured motorist insurer must, within 30 days after receipt of the notice of the proposed settlement, pay to the injured party the amount of the written offer from the underinsured motorist's liability insurer. Thereafter, upon final resolution of the underinsured motorist claim, the underinsured motorist insurer is entitled to seek subrogation against the underinsured motorist and the liability insurer for the amounts paid to the injured party.
(c) The underinsured motorist insurer is entitled to a credit against total damages in the amount of the limits of the underinsured motorist's liability policy in all cases to which this subsection applies, even if the settlement with the underinsured motorist under paragraph (a) or the payment by the underinsured motorist insurer under paragraph (b) is for less than the underinsured motorist's full liability policy limits. The term "total damages" as used in this section means the full amount of damages determined to have been sustained by the injured party, regardless of the amount of underinsured motorist coverage. Nothing in this subsection, including any payment or credit under this subsection, reduces or affects the total amount of underinsured motorist coverage available to the injured party.