What happens if I’m at fault for a car accident

Did you cause a car crash and wondered what happens if I’m at fault for a car accident? I am Chicago personal injury lawyer Barry Zlotowicz. Welcome to the LawFull Channel.

As a personal injury attorney, I normally do videos on what happens if you’re not at fault for a car accident. Today though I’m going to answer the question of what happens if you caused an accident. What is going to happen to you and what can you recover and what can’t you?

If you caused the accident, you are the “at-fault” party and when the injured party files a claim against you with your insurance company or files a lawsuit against you, you will be the “defendant.” You are defending yourself against the claim of another person.

The first think you should do is file a claim with your insurance company. This is the reason you purchased insurance in the first place right. Turn it over to Geico or Allstate or whoever you use and let them run with it.

Be advised, per your insurance contract, you have an obligation to work with your insurance company after a claim is filed. That normally means giving a recorded statement, getting your car inspected, providing them pictures etc. If you don’t cooperate with your insurance company, they could deny the victim’s claim against you which could require the victim to file a lawsuit against you to get you to act and you don’t want to deal with that believe me.

So what are the practical ramifications of hitting someone? Well, they could include:

Increased auto insurance rates. That’s what everyone dreads and we’re all concerned about right? Listen, the accident happened, it happens, and an increase in your rates is just a fact of life. Look at it this way, if you didn’t have insurance, how much would it cost you to fix the other guy’s car and pay for their medical bills and compensate them for their pain and suffering? A lot more than the increase in your rates that’s for sure.

Second, chances are there’s damage to your car as well. Hopefully you have what’s called collision coverage on your vehicle. If you don’t have collision coverage you should get it. If you caused the accident, this insurance will cover the repairs to your own vehicle. Though you will likely have to pay your deductible.

I’ve had several people call me saying they caused an accident and want to collect for their pain and suffering. If you caused the accident, you will not collect anything for your pain and suffering or for your medical bills. One exception on the medical bills, you may have what’s called a medpay policy. You can add it to your insurance policy and it will cover your meds after an accident up to $2500 or $5k regardless of fault.

Another thing people ask about is collecting for their lost wages – again if you caused the accident, you are not going to collect for lost wages generally speaking though people with PIP or personal injury protection insurance may be able to collect for lost wages.
Finally, you might want to get a rental car while your car is in the shop. But this depends on the terms of your auto insurance policy. So if you get in an accident, make sure you request to see a copy of your policy.

A couple other thoughts about being a defendant in an auto accident that I want to share with you. First, you may not be 100% at fault for the accident. Most states recognize some form of “comparative negligence” where fault for the accident can be apportioned between the parties. For example, in my home state of Illinois if you can prove that the other party was more than 50% responsible for the accident, that person is barred from recovering.

Second, just for the sake of mentioning it, it is possible that you could get hit with what’s called an “excess judgment.” This does not happen that often. But what it means is so for example, you’ve got a $25k insurance policy. Meaning that your Geico insurance is only on the hook for the first $25k in damages you cause. But what if the victim’s case is worth $500k or whatever. Geico is not going to pay that extra $475k. Now can you pay that, no, you will more than likely have to file bankruptcy if that happens. That’s why I recommend getting as much insurance as you can. Increasing your limits from $25k to $250k is much cheaper than you would think.

One final point, what if you caused an accident and don’t have auto insurance? Well, you’ll get cited by the police and you are on the hook to pay the victim’s damages out of your own pocket.

[johngavin]

Thank you for this video i had my first accident earlier today and had no idea what to do, i was so stressed out and needed this guidance. I will be doing all of this tomorrow with my insurance provider.

[nbdb]

I was involved in an accident where I was completely at fault. I was pulling out of a parking lot and only looked right and not left and right due to overconfidence. I ended hitting a box truck where thankfully nobody was injured. But the financial impact and the emotional trauma from my carelessness will haunt me forever. It’s tough recovering from the whole situation because I feel like a horrible person now. I’m 22 years old now and I really don’t know what will happen in the next 50 years or so.

[precioustche]

so grateful to have stumbled upon this life lectures! these are things i never knew where to begin to start building in in my life. thanks so much!

[flaviustitus]

Thank you for taking your time and teach about that situation . I really appreciate !

[praisehim]

I really appreciateyou taking your time and putting these videos together to help people. Much love to you.

[RyanMiller-mrbh]

By the way love your channel, I admire your knowledge and also respect you for helping others learn as this is not taught to us. This is something that should be widely taught

[codyparsons]

I got into my first accident today. I was turning left on a green light when there was a gaping traffic, when a truck came and smashed my taillight. I believe the other party was speeding but said nothing when talking to the cops. I overhead some witness talking to the cops saying they thought "she was going a bit fast". I was curious if I had and chance to get out of a failure to yield on a left turn ticket in that situation. Thank you for you're time in making these videos. Came across them and they have been very helpful.

[jmccapi]

Hello Im glad to come across this video. I live in California and wanted to see if I can do anything as he did a malicious act.
I was in an accident that was reported as my fault. I was traveling west bound on Fruitland ave. I was driving behind a AAA tow truck. We came up to a red light and proceeded to go when the light turned green. After a while I tried to pass the tow truck on the left side crossing a double yellow. As I did this the tow truck sped as I tried to get back into the right lane the tow truck driver purposley hit me on the back right side of the car causing me to spin and hit the side walk. The tow truck lost control because of his speed and hit a light pole. I wanted to see if I had some kind of case considering he did this with malice and hit my car .

[AliseIam]

I caused an accident on the highway due to passing out from a medical condition I didn’t know I had. It’s called Syncope and my blood pressure suddenly dropped outta no where which caused me to pass out. I have no memory of the accident and I’m insanely lucky to be alive. Thankfully I was the only one hurt. I’m now working with my doctors to make sure this never happens again.

Prior to this I was a perfect driver. It’s tough cause there was nothing I did to cause this, my life style isn’t crazy… but I was still at fault.

[societyofroodest.ad]

Thank you, this is very educational. You would make a great law professor. If you were, I probably would have made a better grade in my business law class.

[shaunaeowens]

I just got into a car accident 4 hours ago and I feel really bad for it I wasn’t paying attention.

[satyajitnanda]

Hi.... Thanks for the informative i was involved in an accident few weeks back in a multistory parking lot in San Diego, CA . i was taking a right in a T intersection and got hit by a car going i am a good driver with no prior accidents and i always look carefully before merging into a this time also i saw no car in the straight lane and make a right and this car came out of no where and hit my i believe the other driver was over speeding in that parking the accident, the other driver accepted his fault and said He even said that he was in a hurry to work and did at that time no one was injured and the other driver was 18 years of age who just got his provisional driving now after 2 weeks my insurance company called me and telling me that the other driver is putting the responsibility to me and my Insurance company (GEICO) can not prove that the other guy was over speeding and they are saying the other driver had the right of way in that parking lot... they are saying at this point "i am at fault"

1. What are my options in this scenario ?
2. my wife was there at the time of accident and she also heard what the other person said can i use my wife as a witness?
3. also the other guy is also claming bodily injury even though he was not injured after the accident . what kind of injury claim he can do ? i have a 100/300K Bodily injury and it was not a major will my insurance company cover all the is it possible he can claim more than 100K in this kind of small accident ??

please advise

[Djevan]

That was very good and informative. I had a teacher who was at fault in a car accident but the person he hit didn’t bother to exchange insurance. The person he hit just decided to leave the scene. A few years later she somehow got his insurance and now he’s being sued. Do you think the victim should be charged with hit and run even though she wasn’t at fault?

[BrandonTalbot]

This morning. This video
Really cleared things up for me

[anniemarielilly]

My dad was in an incident a month ago. He was driving on a straight lane and then he stopped to see if it was clear to continue around the roundabout. The car he was to give way to was a good distance away. So he decided to carry on driving. However, once he started driving that same car came out of nowhere and crushed the side of his Jeep, leading to the left side of his door handles being broken and a large dent left in the center.

Thank God my dad and the other driver wasn't physically injured.

The driver was a woman who seemed like she was unstable and her personality was really horrible. I believe she was speeding since her vehicle wasn't near the intersection of the roundabout.

This week my father got a bill in the mail from her insurance company demanding that he pay 10, 000 for the damages of her car. It's got all the photos and all. My dad doesn't understand what's going on because she was the one who hit his car and he had to fix the damages she made. My dad didn't even touch her car.

On that day of the incident, the police came and she told them that my dad didn't give way to her so he was accountable.

My dad doesn't have insurance or the money to pay for her car. I'm scared and really sad for him. We don't know what to do.

I believe it was a false claim against him. But me and my dad have didn't take photos because we didn't know it would be that serious 😭😭😭

Please God help us 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[ryanealon]

Hi there! Just got into my very first car accident today. I’m a 25 unmarried male, and I own a 09 Honda Civic. I was driving in Hollywood and a driver 2 cars ahead of me swerved out in front of the person in front of me, she slammed on her brakes, and unfortunately I ended up rear-ending her. We filed a claim with our insurances, no police report was filed because damage wasn’t substantial—her bumper will need to be replaced and the front of my car has a small dent. I guess my questions would be
1. How badly will this affect my insurance if I’m named the at-fault party?
2. How long will this accident last on my record in the state of California?

[Awesometay]

I was stopped at a stop sign on a side street. I was planning to make a left hand turn onto the Main Street. The traffic light at the end of the street was RED. traffic coming from my left stopped to keep the lane clear. They were stopped behind the beginning of side street, with the rest of the traffic stopped on the other side(Traffic was backed up because of the red light). I saw that there was no more traffic coming from the right side of the main street so I proceeded SLOWLY to make my left hand turn passing the STOPPED TRAFFIC. As soon as I passed the stopped traffic I was hit by a car going atleast 35-40 mph WHICH I COULD NOT SEE BEHIND THE STOPPED TRAFFIC, which was headed to the red light, mind you it was RAINING. From my point of view, it looked like the car went around the stopped traffic, to try and pass them

If I could add, I wouldn’t blame either one of us. I feel like there should not be a stop sign on that street! I think a STOPLIGHT would be better in that area.

With traffic lined up, it was hard for me to see the other lane of traffic. There is no reason for traffic to be lined up behind an intersection for a STOP SIGN! there needs to be a stoplight there on both sides of the street. It is too dangerous

[oscar]

Hello, so two years ago i was at fault of an accident in California, the settlement for property damage was token care of and now (two years later) im being demanded 15k for bodily injuries. State farm says i have coverage for 25k property damage and 15k for each persons injuries. I no longer have this vehicle insured with them so would state farm cover this in case the suit goes trough?

[shawno]

Finally got some understanding on this. On 2nd accident and idk what to do. Tried to get an attorney and they said they couldn’t help because the police put me at fault (which isn’t true) now I’m stuck without an job and bills

[richardpetersen]

I was involved in an auto accident where the officer and insurance declared me at fault. Doing DoorDash with my two kids and girlfriend in the car when we went through an intersection and was t-boned ended up flipping our car over on our roof. The officer submitted a DMV re-examination and not it’s putting my driving privlegde at risk. All this ordinal has been overwhelming on my emotions giving i deal with depression to begin with. My father-in-law is letting me use one of the cars he has but i just feel like I don’t deserve it anymore. I’ve been really beating myself up over this. I don’t get why it’s called a car ‘accident’ when they don’t treat it as an accident more like a ‘it’s you’re fault and I’m gunna ruin your life’. Emotionally it’s been hard and tearing me up