Report Accidents to Protect Your Insurance Claim

“Underinsured” motorist coverage is insurance that you purchase from your own insurance company to pay for your losses if you are injured by someone who does not have enough of his or her own liability insurance to pay for all of the injuries you may suffer. “Uninsured” motorist coverage is insurance that you purchase to pay for your own losses if you are injured by an uninsured driver or by a hit‑and‑run driver.

Recently, a Pennsylvania highway worker was frustrated to find that she lost her entitlement to make a claim for uninsured motorist benefits because she did not report the accident to the police. The worker was injured when she was forced to jump out of the way of an unidentified vehicle while working as a flagger on the highway. She promptly reported the incident to her employer and to the insurance company, faxing the insurance company a copy of the written report that she filled out for her ­employer. The insurance company later denied the claim on the grounds that its policy and Pennsylvania law both require that all uninsured motorist accidents must be reported to the police.

The Pennsylvania court acknowledged that the insurance company was correct. Both the policy and the Pennsylvania automobile insurance laws require that persons who are injured or who make any claims for uninsured motorist benefits must report the accident to the insurance company within 30 days and also must report the accident to the police “or proper governmental authority” as soon as possible.

Unless you make a prompt police report, you will lose any claims you have for uninsured motorist benefits. Remember that your uninsured motorist coverage pays you for claims you have against individuals without any insurance and also for claims you have against a phantom driver who injures you and flees the scene. If a negligent driver cannot produce reliable written evidence of current insurance coverage, assume that he or she has none and treat the incident as one involving an uninsured driver.

Unless your injuries prevent you from waiting at the accident scene, you should do so, even if it seems unnecessary or annoying. Reporting the accident after leaving the scene could be deemed untimely. If no police are available to come to the scene, you should go to the police department if possible. If your injuries prevent you from staying at the scene, take all the steps you can to be sure someone else reports the incident to the police for you. Furthermore, since the law does not define any other “proper governmental authority,” it is wisest to report such incidents only to the police and to be sure to make arrangements to get a copy of the police report.

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