Even though the other driver is clearly at fault, that driver is presumed innocent until there is a trial or that driver’s insurance company agrees to pay.  Even if it agrees to pay, it will only pay when all your medical care is finished.  That way it can selectively choose what care to pay for and what care they deem “unnecessary” or the costs of which are not “reasonable.”  In the meantime, you are still responsible to pay the doctors and hospital for their full charges.  Therefore, you want to submit the bills to your insurance company.  We will force the other driver’s insurance company to reimburse yours.

Unless the other driver pleads guilty to the traffic violation, the outcome of the ticket will have no bearing on your civil case against that driver.  The reason is because the ticket is between that driver and the City or State that wrote the ticket, you would just be a witness.  Think OJ Simpson.  He received the “ticket” or the criminal charge and was found not guilty in the criminal trial.  Despite the not guilty verdict, the families sued him and were awarded millions of dollars in a  civil trial.

The purpose of the law on injury compensation is to put you in the position you would have been in had the crash not occurred.  That means you recover one dollar for each one dollar of damages.

You are entitled to economic damages- that is out of pocket expenses you’ve incurred such as medical bills and lost wages.  You are also entitled to non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and loss of a normal life.  Of course, there is no receipt for those damages. They are compensated by convincing the at fault driver’s insurance company of an amount that’s fair or awarded by a jury after a trial.

If your insurance company has paid medical bills on your behalf, and the at fault driver’s insurance company gave you money in your settlement to pay those same bills, you would have recovered twice for the same element of damages.  Each insurance policy has a right of reimbursement or subrogation, so the company gets reimbursed from your settlement and you still recover one dollar for each dollar of expense you incurred.

Every insurance company in Illinois is required to offer their customers coverage for this type of occurrence. That coverage is called Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage.   This coverage applies when the at fault driver does not have insurance at all or enough insurance to cover your damages.  Your insurance company will compensate you up to the limits of the coverage you purchased for the injuries the at fault driver caused.  There are time limits on making the claim for those benefit.

If you were hired in Illinois or work in Illinois, but your accident happened in another state while you were working, you can file a Worker’s Compensation Claim in Illinois.