If you were a passenger in a car accident involving two or more vehicles, you might not know who’s legally responsible for paying compensation (what the law calls “damages”) for your injuries. The answer depends on the facts of the case and your state law. Key factors are the state where you live and who’s legally to blame for your injuries. In addition, you'll need to know who has insurance to pay for your damages.
Now for the good news: You probably don’t need to worry about who’s legally responsible for paying you. Simply file an insurance claim against each involved driver and let their auto insurers sort it out. They’ll do some of the work for you.
Who's Legally Responsible for Paying a Passenger's Damages?
Here are some key factors in deciding who's legally responsible to pay for your car accident damages:
- whether you live in a fault-based state or a no-fault state, and
- who’s legally to blame (or as the law says, “at fault”) for your injuries.
Do You Live in a Fault-Based State or a No-Fault State?
Fault-based and no-fault states take different approaches to fault in car accident cases. The goal of a no-fault system is to remove fault from the auto insurance scheme, at least sometimes.
Fault-Based States
In a fault-based state, if you’re hurt by an at-fault driver, you’re allowed to file an insurance claim or a lawsuit against that driver. State law requires that every driver must have auto liability insurance to pay for personal injuries and property damage they cause in an accident. That insurance pays for your damages, up to the limits of the driver’s coverage.
No-Fault States
In a no-fault state, every driver must have no-fault auto insurance. The key feature of a no-fault auto policy is a kind of no-fault insurance called personal injury protection (PIP). PIP usually pays for some out-of-pocket losses like medical bills and lost wages. It doesn’t cover what the law sometimes calls “general damages,” meaning injuries like pain and suffering.
In most no-fault states, a passenger who’s hurt in a car wreck must first bring a claim against their driver’s PIP coverage. Because PIP is no-fault insurance, the driver’s fault (or lack of fault) doesn’t matter.
To recover general damages, the passenger must bring a claim or a lawsuit against an at-fault driver’s auto liability insurance. No fault law only allows a liability claim if the passenger’s medical expenses or injuries exceed specified state law minimums, called “thresholds.” In other words, in no-fault states, a passenger injury claim is prohibited unless the injury meets or exceeds the thresholds. A PIP claim will be the passenger's only recovery.
Who’s Legally to Blame for Your Injuries?
A passenger collects damages (other than PIP or other no-fault benefits) from an at-fault driver by filing an auto liability insurance claim or lawsuit. (Again, keep in mind that no-fault law can limit the ability to file a liability insurance claim or suit.) In most cases, proving that a driver was at fault means showing that the driver failed to drive safely under the circumstances. The law calls this “negligence.”
Sometimes, proving fault is simple. In most rear-end collisions, for example, fault won’t be an issue. Other times, fault will be contested. Here’s a quick example.
Suppose Driver 1 is waiting to turn left at an intersection. Driver 2, approaching from the opposite direction, has their right-hand turn signal flashing. Driver 1 starts to turn, thinking Driver 2 is turning right. Suddenly, Driver 2 speeds into the intersection to “beat” a yellow light, and slams into Driver 1’s passenger door. Driver 1’s passenger is seriously injured.
If a case like this ended up in a claim or lawsuit, it’s most likely that both drivers would share the blame. Suppose that after a trial, the jury decides Driver 1 was 60% at fault and Driver 2 was 40% at fault. This means Driver 1 would have to pay 60% of the passenger’s damages. Driver 2 would be responsible for the remaining 40%.
Finding Insurance to Pay for a Car Accident Passenger's Damages
Most often, insurance pays for an injured passenger’s damages. Let’s consider possible sources of insurance coverage.
The At-Fault Driver’s Insurance
Other than PIP coverage, an at-fault driver might have these kinds of insurance to pay a passenger’s damages.
Liability Insurance
With the exception of New Hampshire, every state and the District of Columbia require drivers to have liability insurance. When a passenger brings a claim or a lawsuit against a driver to collect damages, they’re most likely bringing a claim against the driver’s liability insurance.
Keep a couple of things in mind if you’re thinking about a liability insurance claim. First, liability insurance is fault-based. To collect damages, you must prove that the driver was at least partly to blame for the accident. Second, if you’re in a no-fault state, the law limits your ability to bring a liability claim or lawsuit.
Sometimes the issue in a liability insurance claim isn’t whether there’s any coverage, but whether there’s enough coverage. Stated a bit differently, it’s possible that the at-fault driver's liability insurance coverage limits won’t be enough to pay for all your damages.
Medical Payments (MedPay) Coverage
Medical payments coverage (also known as MedPay) is another kind of no-fault insurance, like PIP. In most states, it’s not required by law. If a driver has MedPay, it will pay for a passenger’s medical bills up to the driver’s coverage limit. Unlike PIP, MedPay won’t pay for lost wages.
MedPay coverage limits are often low—$5,000 or $10,000 is common. To collect, just submit your medical bills to the driver’s insurance company.
Other Insurance
Depending on the circumstances of your case, you might need to find other kinds of insurance to pay for your damages. Here are some common examples.
Your Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage
If the at-fault drivers don’t have enough liability insurance to pay for your damages, you can bring a claim against your own uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) insurance, if you have it. These coverages aren’t required by law in most states.
Your Health Insurance
If you’re covered by a health insurance policy, that coverage will take care of your medical bills. If you later collect from an at-fault driver, you might have to pay back the health insurance company for any expenses it paid, up to the amount you recover from the driver.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
When an auto accident is connected to your work, your medical bills and lost wages might be paid by your employer’s workers’ compensation coverage. As with your health insurance, you could have to pay back the workers’ compensation insurance company if you collect anything from an at-fault driver.
Filing Passenger Injury Insurance Claims
Filing a passenger injury insurance claim typically means putting the insurance company on notice that you intend to pursue a claim for benefits. Most times, it’s pretty simple. Here’s what to do.
When to File
Whether you’re bringing a claim against an at-fault driver’s insurance company or your own insurer, you want to let the company know as soon as possible. The sooner you let them know, the sooner they can open a claim file, assign a claims adjuster, and start an investigation. These are all things the insurance company must do before it can pay you benefits, or even start negotiations with you.
How to File
Most insurance companies have both an online claim filing page and a mobile claim filing app. Use whichever one is most convenient. You should provide all the information the form requires, but how much detail you include will depend on the kind of claim you’re filing.
Filing a Claim With Your Own Insurance Company
By the terms of your insurance policy, you have a duty to cooperate with your own insurance company when you make a claim. Most often, you and your insurance company will work together to resolve your claim. As a rule, you should provide your insurer with whatever information it requests.
There can be situations where your interests and those of your insurance company are at odds. If you think that’s the case, you should consider speaking to an experienced car accident lawyer to make sure you protect your rights.
Filing a Claim With an At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Company
You don’t owe an at-fault driver’s insurance company any duty of cooperation. Do your best to keep your interactions with the insurance adjuster professional and cordial, but be on your guard. The adjuster isn’t your friend and has no real incentive to pay you a fair settlement.
When you file your claim, as a rule, provide only the information that’s necessary. For example, if you’re asked to describe how the accident happened, something like this should suffice:
- “Your insured wasn’t paying attention, ran a stop sign, and hit the car in which I was riding.”
- “Your insured carelessly entered the intersection on a yellow light and collided with the car in which I was a passenger.”
If asked to describe your injuries, simply say “I’ll provide detailed information about my injuries, together with supporting medical records and bills, in a settlement demand prepared by me or my attorney.”
Finally, don’t provide a written or recorded statement about the accident as part of your claim filing. If asked, say you’ll provide a statement of the facts in your settlement demand.
(Learn more about how to file a car insurance claim.)
Which Insurance Companies Should You File Claims With?
As the saying goes, “it’s better to be safe than sorry.” To be on the safe side, you probably should file claims with each driver’s insurance company. At the point when you’re filing claims with insurance companies, the odds are you don’t have enough information to know who’s going to be responsible for paying your damages. And you’re not obligated to figure that out, either. It’s up to the insurance companies to sort out the facts and decide who will pay you.
Filing a claim doesn’t mean you’re required to pursue that claim. If it turns out that a driver is off the hook for lack of fault, you can simply abandon your claim. That course is preferable to not filing a claim and then learning later on that you should have filed.
Note that regardless of how many claims you file, you only get to make one recovery for all your damages. Here’s a simple example. Suppose your damages total $50,000 and you bring claims against two at-fault drivers. As a rule, you can only collect a total of $50,000 in damages. You don’t get to collect $50,000 from each driver.
What About Your Own Insurance Company?
Most often, you don’t want to file a claim against your own auto insurer unless you’re fairly certain a claim is necessary to pay for your damages. Why? Because filing a claim with your insurance company might cause your premiums to increase. Worse yet, depending on your claim history, your insurance company might drop your coverage.
You should report the accident to your insurer, but reporting an accident isn’t the same thing as filing a claim. You can report the accident with a call or an email to your insurance agent. If you’re not sure whether you need to file a claim, contact your insurance agent or speak with an experienced car accident lawyer.
What If Your Driver Was a Relative?
If a relative living in your home was driving the car you were riding in, and if you're a licensed driver, you probably can’t file a liability insurance claim against that driver. Why? Because under most auto policies, all licensed drivers who are family members living in the same household are “insured” persons. As an insured person, you can’t bring a liability claim against your own auto policy.
The Insurance Claim Process
Once you’ve filed your insurance claims, the claim process takes on a life of its own. Here’s what to expect.
Gathering and Preserving Evidence
Let's start with a few words of caution. First, if you’re involved in an auto accident, call 911 to get medical assistance for anyone who’s injured and to get the police on the scene. Second, if you’re injured and need medical care, that takes priority over gathering evidence at the scene. Finally, unless you’re injured and need medical care you should remain at the scene, but don’t do anything that interferes with police or other first responders.
One of the most important things you’ll do is gather and preserve evidence to support your claim. Ideally, this process begins at the accident scene. If you’re able, here are some things to do:
- take pictures of all the involved vehicles, where they came to rest, and their damages
- get pictures of the accident scene, including any crash debris
- write down the names, along with contact and insurance information, of all drivers
- if a driver was working at the time of the wreck, get the name, together with contact and insurance information, of the driver’s employer
- note the names and contact information of all persons who witnessed the accident so you (or better yet, your lawyer) can get statements from them
- record the year, make, model, and license plate information for all vehicles involved in the accident
- look for security or surveillance cameras nearby and see about getting copies of any accident videos, and
- get the name, badge number, and contact information for each responding police officer, and ask how to get a copy of the police report.
After you’ve left the accident scene:
- get medical treatment for your injuries
- keep a journal to record how the accident happened, your injuries, and your treatment and recovery
- if you owned the vehicle in which you were riding, report the accident to your state department of motor vehicles if required by law
- report the accident to your own auto insurance company
- when you’ve finished treatment, get copies of your medical records and bills, and
- ask your employer’s payroll office for a letter documenting your lost wages.
Will My Passenger Injury Claim Settle?
Probably so, because most personal injury claims settle without the need for a trial. If your case doesn’t settle, you’ll have to decide whether to file a personal injury lawsuit. That’s a big decision, one you don’t want to take lightly.
(Learn more about lawsuits and what they involve.)
How Much Is My Passenger Injury Claim Worth?
The value of your claim depends on several factors, including:
- your injuries, treatment, and recovery
- whether you were left with long-term or permanent disability or disfigurement, and
- whether you were partly to blame for the accident.
After you’ve reached maximum medical improvement and finished gathering the evidence you need, settlement negotiations can begin. Most often, you’ll start the process by sending a settlement demand letter to each at-fault driver’s insurance company. Your demand letter will detail the important facts of the case, why the driver is responsible for your damages, and demand a lump sum to settle your claim.
(Learn more about how to estimate a value for your auto accident claim. Here are some sample demand letters you can refer to when drafting your own settlement demand. Find out how the settlement process often works.)
Get Help Filing Claims Against At-Fault Drivers
If you’re unsure whether or how to file insurance claims in a case involving multiple drivers, it might make sense to get legal help. The same is true if you’re not sure whether to file an insurance claim against your own insurance coverage.
In many cases, filing insurance claims is the easy part. Things can get complicated and confusing when you need to draft demand letters, estimate a value for your claim, and negotiate settlements with multiple insurers. These are all things an experienced car accident lawyer can help you do.
If you’re ready to begin, here’s how to find an attorney who’s a good fit for you.