Denial of Coverage After a DUI
A liability car insurance policy typically provides coverage for any accident in which the policyholder ( or person else covered under the policy ) drives in a negligent manner — and possibly even in a grossly negligent or foolhardy manner, depending on what the policy says — and causes a car accident. But no car indemnity policy covers cable car accidents caused by intentional demeanor .
Some automobile insurers like to argue that toast and drive is designed conduct, since that argument ( if accepted ) will allow the company to disclaim coverage for damages resulting from a DUI — whether injuries and fomite damage sustained by the driver and/or passengers in the vehicle you hit ( under your indebtedness coverage ), or your own losses ( under your personal injury protection or exchangeable coverage ).
The insurance company ‘s argument here is that the driver intentionally put him or herself in a position to cause the accident — i, the driver intentionally toast alcohol, intentionally got drink, intentionally drove after getting toast, and knew ( or at the very least should have known ) that drink and drive is extremely dangerous .
If you cause an accident while you are intoxicated, your car insurance company will at least investigate the circumstances of your crash before it agrees to accept liability for any damages .
If the insurance company takes the stead that you acted intentionally to cause the accident, it may refuse to defend you and may deny coverage for damages relating to your accident. This is particularly dependable if you ‘re trying to get coverage for injuries to other drivers and passengers. But if you ‘re equitable trying to get the insurance company to pay for fomite damage under your collision coverage, the insurance company may not attempt to deny that claim .
If your insurance company is denying coverage for bodily injury, you might need to hire a lawyer to try to convince the insurance company to change its judgment.
Limitation of Coverage
tied if your insurance company agrees to defend you for damages relating to your DUI accident, it will still not defend you against a call of intentional misbehave, or pay for damages relating to a charge of intentional mismanage .
As you may know, the majority of personal injury claims are based on the fault concept of negligence ( which means carelessness or the failure to act with reasonable caution ). That is because most people and companies do not act intentionally to injure person. But occasionally person will cause harm through an intentional act ( which is normally defined as an intentional tort ) .
sometimes a lawyer in a personal wound case involving a DUI will add a claim for intentional wrongdoing against the at-fault DUI driver. If the encase goes to test, and a jury awards the plaintiff damages for the driver ‘s designed wrongdoing, the DUI driver ‘s insurance company will not pay for those damages. The defendant will have to pay for designed misbehave damages out of his/her own scoop. For fiscal liability purposes when it comes to the designed behave charge, it ‘s the lapp as driving without insurance.
Cancellation of Insurance Policy
To an car insurance company, a DUI conviction makes an guarantee driver a bad risk. Why should the aircraft carrier see a bad gamble ? It ‘s better for the insurance company to just cancel your coverage. silent, automobile policy is highly regulated in most states. Some states will not permit an insurance company to cancel your coverage for a DUI. But you should assume that, in any state where an insurance company is legally permitted to cancel a driver ‘s automobile coverage for a DUI conviction, it will do therefore .
Your Car Insurance Premium Will Go Up
If your insurance company can not cancel your coverage, it will surely increase your premium drastically after a DUI conviction. And, if your old coverage is cancelled and you have to look for coverage with a newly insurance company, you should assume that that new insurance company will quote you a similarly high — possibly prohibitively high — premium .
How Long Will a DUI Stay on My Record?
The laws differ from state to state, but you should assume that a DUI will stay on your record for at least seven years. Your car policy premium will be affected for deoxyadenosine monophosphate long as a DUI is on your record .