Living in New Hampshire has a lot of benefits: breath-taking scenery, a sparsely populated state, and an unobtrusive government. Most New Hampshirites are fiercely proud of the “Live free or die” motto and are deeply invested in it, which is probably the reason why New Hampshire has some unique laws.
Even though driving while talking on a cell phone was finally banned in 2015, New Hampshire still does not require car passengers to wear a seatbelt or motorcyclists to wear a helmet. And drivers in New Hampshire are not required to purchase auto insurance if they have the financial means to cover medical bills or property damage caused by an accident.
Uninsured Drivers in New Hampshire
In all honesty, though, if a New Hampshirite does drive without insurance, it is probably because they can’t afford the cost of an annual premium, which means they probably don’t have cash lying around to cover huge medical bills or property damage. So what happens if you get into a car accident and are injured, and then you discover the other driver (who caused the accident) doesn’t have insurance? What recourse do you have to seek compensation for your injuries and property damage?
Even though New Hampshire doesn’t require drivers to carry auto insurance, ironically the Granite State requires that drivers who do buy auto insurance also buy Uninsured Motorist (UM) insurance, and the UM coverage must be equal to the driver’s own liability coverage.
So for instance, New Hampshire’s minimum insurance coverage is 25/50/25: $25,000 for bodily injury or death to one person, $50,000 for bodily injury or death to two or more people, and $25,000 for property damage. A New Hampshirite would also have to purchase that same amount for UM insurance.
If you are driving with insurance and you get into an accident with someone who doesn’t have insurance (and you are injured and therefore have medical bills in addition to property damage), you can file a UM claim with your own insurance company. However, you will need the help of an experienced personal injury attorney to file a UM claim because these claims are more complicated than a standard claim. This is where the lawyers at Tenn And Tenn, PA can help.
Accident Reports in New Hampshire
The second thing you can do if you are injured by an uninsured driver is to file an Accident Report with the New Hampshire Bureau of Financial Responsibility. This is New Hampshire law, and it must be filed within 15 days of the accident.
If the uninsured driver is found to have been at fault for the accident and there is property damage of $1,000 or more and/or there was a death or bodily injury, the driver will have his or her driver’s license and vehicle registration suspended until all the medical and property damage bills are covered. The uninsured driver will also have to pay fees to eventually get the license and registration restored.
Tenn And Tenn, PA: New Hampshire Uninsured Driver Experts
If you were injured in an accident that was someone else’s fault and the at-fault driver does not have insurance, you are probably frantic about how you are going to cover your bills related to the accident. Tenn And Tenn, PA can help you file a UM claim and fight to get you the compensation you deserve. Call us today on our toll-free Help Line at (888) 332-5855 or contact us online.