In most cases, you cannot sue an insurance company directly for a motor vehicle crash even though the crash is covered by the at-fault driver’s insurance.
Instead, you must bring negligence claims against the at-fault driver or drivers who caused or contributed to the crash. Although it is commonly known that all state laws require drivers to have auto insurance, and almost all drivers do have insurance, the insurance industry has long lobbied legislators to create laws prohibiting any reference to or discussion of auto insurance at trials involving motor vehicle crashes.
This means, that even though the at-fault driver’s insurance will pay any monetary judgment awarded to the injured party, the jury does not hear any evidence about the defendant’s insurance. This sometimes leads juries to believe that the defendant will have to pay the monetary judgment awarded out of pocket or from their funds, which is simply not true.
Fortunately, if the at-fault driver has insurance it will be covered by the insurance policy even though it is not admitted into evidence at trial.
It is important to note that there may be some situations where you can sue an insurance company directly, such as in cases where the insurance company acted in bad faith or in situations where you are pursuing compensation under your insurance policy for underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage.
At Dollar, Burns, Becker & Hershewe, we have a team of insurance bad faith attorneys in Kansas City ready to gather important information to pursue all legal action necessary.