I got into an uninsured motorist accident, do I have a claim against the other party that has no insurance?

My car insurance lapsed because I couldn’t afford the payments, but I had to keep driving anyway. I got into an accident and hit another car. The other driver has uninsured motorist insurance, so can I put in a claim against it?

First, you don’t claim against anyone’s insurance but your own. (If you have it and it’s applicable—for example, if you had Personal Injury Protection or PIP, you could claim for your own bodily injuries; if you had Collision, that would cover your auto damage.) If you feel the other driver was at fault in this accident, you could sue him—but you are suing him, not his insurance company. All insurance does is provide a source of funds or payment. It does not mean that the other party is at fault or has to pay, or provide a different party (the insurer) to sue. Second, and this is a common mistake—Uninsured Motorist Insurance, or UIM, does not protect or cover the uninsured motorist. What it does is provide for a way for the person with the insurance to collect if he sues—and wins against—an uninsured motorist.

For example, in your case, say that you are at fault and the other driver sues you and wins in court. If you don’t have insurance because you couldn’t afford the premiums, you probably don’t have much in the way of assets either. That normally might mean that the other driver’s win is meaningless—you can’t get blood from a stone, and if the other driver has no money, there is no way to collect. That’s where the UIM comes in. When someone is injured by a driver who lacks insurance, their own UIM will pay their claim as if it was the defendant’s insurance. (There are some differences, but they’re not important for this purpose.) The UIM provides an additional level of financial protection for the person who buys it, to make sure that he or she is not put at economic risk by another person’s failure to have insurance.