I was traveling at 40 m.p.h. at a 45 mile zone, a vehicle ran a stop sign and I hit him broadside, now their ins.co. wants me to accept $10,000 (since thats the coverage he supposedly had) on a vehicle I owe $21,000. They say I was 10% at fault since I saw the vehicle pull in front of me and that I could have avoided the accident, I had passengers including my wife, sister in law her 9 mos old baby and my 2 children ages 3 and 7 how is it possible to avoid hitting this vehicle without a rollover or worst? The bad part is that I had a lapse in coverage at the time (unknown at the time) what should I do? I believe the adjuster made a bad assessment of the accident fault investigation he claimed I was going faster than the speed limit, and that I did not use my horn. Can I get more from his Insurance Co. to pay for my car since they claimed it totaled or must I obtain an Attorney? Can anyone advise on this?I first was told by the adjuster that I would be coverd by $20,000 then instead $10,000 could this be a mistake?My policy lapsed when my premium went $100.00 dollars higher from one month to another because I added a driver to my policy , I wrote a check and there was insufficent funds to cover, my credit union sent it back, like you said there is no excuse for driving without an active policy. My finance co. just recently asked for proof of insurane which is 2 months later.

their insurance should replace the value of your car. if you accept $10,000, that's all your going to get. get an attorney. maybe talk to your insurance company, that's what their there for. This is why I never buy a new car. I bought a $4000 van with 100k on it, I put about $1500 (front end and cv joints) into it over the past 5 years, + another 100k and it's still running fine.sorry to say, but a new car is one of the worst investments you can make (they rust and are worthless in 20 years). if you can't afford it (not the payments), don't get it.

Get an attorney.....you never want to deal with the insurance compnay yourself!

You'd have to get an attorney and sue the individual since his insurance company only covered $10,000.

Absolutely get a lawyer. He/she will recover the amount you need to replace the vehicle, any medical charges, time off work, etc, etc, etc. Many attorneys work for commission for what they get you, so they have an added incentive to win the case.

dont take the 10,000!!!! where do you live cause 10,000 is very low coverage! talk to the adjuster politely and explain you need the full acv value on your auto since it was totalled, and any medical bills for anyone and everyone in the car at the time of the accident, a rental car until yours is fixed or replaced. BE NICE you will get much farther with an adjuster if you are patient and polite. if you can't get anywhere, talk to an attorney

The other guy's insurance is never, ever going to pay out more than the policy limit. YOUR policy limit is 0, since you were uninsured at the time. If you disagree with the adjuster, you can decline to take payment, and sue the other guy in court. Then you're letting the judge decide. But the policy STILL won't pay out more than the policy limit.As to your initial question - can you buy more coverage from the insurance company? Yes, but you have to buy the coverage BEFORE the accident. So it's too late. If YOU had insurance, then you could collect from YOUR policy, and let your insurance company worry about chasing him down. But you don't. So you're stuck with accepting policy limits now, or suing this guy in court, and taking policy limits and a personal judgement later. Meanwhile, you have to keep making payments on your car.

I think you will have to consult with an attorney. If the insurance limit on the policy is $ 10,000 that is all the insurance company is obligated to pay. . You will have to sue the individual for the damage not reimbursed to you. If the insurance company is offering only to pay the amount you indicated and accident coverage is larger then have your attorney go after the limit including attorney fees expended by you. The secret to the case is the attorney you hire. Never listen to the opponent's insurance company offer.They will always lowball you.

mbrcatz1 (above) is correct. If you had kept your insurance in force with uninsured motorist coverage, it would cover the shortfall not covered by the other drivers' minimal insurance. Since you had no coverage, thats it. You can try suing the other driver directly, but you'll probably never collect even if you win the judgement.

Request to see a copy of their insurance policy (or at least the declarations page)...it will tell you the policy limits, including limit per incident and the aggregate...$10,000 is low to have insurance in (but I supposed it depends on the state...in CA, the minimum you have to be covered for is $15,000)....As the other posters said, if the $10,000 is the policy limit, that's all you're going to get from the insurance company...so definitely see if you can get a copy of the other party's insurance policy (or declarations page)....you can try suing the other person for more (and perhaps he has excess coverage elsewhere)..Remember, if you get an attorney involved and $10,000 is the policy limit, the attorney will get 1/3 of any settlement that is negotiated...See if he also has a separate policy for medical bills...