An insurance situation that can become legally complicated occurs when two people co-own a car, and one gets into an accident. An auto accident lawyer in Granite City, IL may be necessary to make sure anyone injured in this collision receives appropriate financial compensation as well as payment for property damage.
Type of Insurance
Determining whether someone is liable depends partly on the type of insurance. Some insurance policies follow the driver, so to speak, while others follow the vehicle. Policyholders should know which type they have in case they ever plan to use someone else’s car or lend theirs to someone else. The same applies to people who co-own a vehicle. Do they need one insurance policy for the vehicle or two separate liability policies for each of them?
Co-Signed Loans
An auto accident lawyer in Granite City, IL can also advise people during a free initial consultation whether they have a good case or not. Consider a situation in which someone co-signed a loan for a relative and has not experienced any trouble regarding defaulting.
However, if that person causes a collision and is underinsured for the amount of liability, anyone who is injured may wonder if the co-signer’s automotive insurance is liable. They might want to file a lawsuit against the co-signer if that individual has enough assets to pay directly. This may, in fact, not be a valid case against the co-signer. Technically, the co-signer does not own the vehicle. An experienced attorney would need to evaluate the circumstances.
The Aspect of Negligence
In some instances, the aspect of negligence applies. For instance, if one co-owner knows that the other one should not be driving, an attorney with a law firm such as Becker, Schroader & Chapman, PC may use negligence in the argument for compensation if an accident occurs. An obvious example would be letting the other owner drive the vehicle while intoxicated. The injured person then may be more in their right to expect the co-owners’ insurance to pay for medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage. People with doubts can visit the website to get started.
