When discussing car insurance, you may hear the term “full coverage.” After a car accident, for example, you may be asked whether you have full coverage.
North Carolina requires vehicle owners to maintain an established minimum amount of liability insurance. If you have that plus collision insurance and comprehensive coverage, you are generally considered to have full coverage.
It’s important to understand the types of insurance coverage after a car accident because that is where you’ll turn for payment if you are injured in a collision or sustain damage to your vehicle. In most cases, the value of a car accident claim is limited to the amount of insurance coverage available.
Our experienced Raleigh personal injury lawyers at Hardison & Cochran help accident victims who have sustained serious injuries in car accidents across the Triangle and North Carolina. Recovering appropriate financial compensation for your losses after a car accident is important to regain control of your life and move forward. Contact an experienced Raleigh personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.
Required Car Insurance Coverage in North Carolina
Car owners in North Carolina are required under state law to maintain auto liability insurance with coverage worth at least:
- $30,000 per person for bodily injury
- $60,000 per accident for bodily injury
- $25,000 per accident for property damage.
This is sometimes referred to as “30/60/25 coverage.” Liability coverage pays when the policyholder or anyone authorized to drive the covered vehicle is legally responsible for another person’s injury or property damage. In other words, if you are injured in a car accident caused by another motorist, you may file a claim against the at-fault driver’s liability insurance to cover your medical bills, lost wages, and other accident expenses.
As of January 1, 2025, North Carolina’s minimum liability coverage requirement will increase to 50/100/50:
- $50,000 per person for bodily injury
- $100,000 per accident for bodily injury
- $50,000 per accident for property damage.
If you buy liability coverage with the minimum bodily injury and property damage coverage limits, the policy must include uninsured motorist coverage. Policies with limits greater than the minimum must provide combined uninsured/underinsured motorists (UM/UIM) coverage.
Uninsured motorist coverage pays if the policyholder is injured or suffers property damage in an accident caused by a motorist who does not have liability insurance or a hit-and-run driver who is not identified. UIM coverage may be accessed if the policyholder has remaining medical bills after exhausting the money available from the at-fault driver’s liability insurance.
State law sets minimum required amounts of coverage. However, car owners are free to buy liability and UM/UIM coverage worth up to $1 million per person or per accident.
Full Car Insurance Coverage in North Carolina
In addition to liability coverage, the two remaining components of full coverage insurance in North Carolina are collision coverage and comprehensive coverage.
Collision coverage pays for physical damage to the covered vehicle caused by a collision with another vehicle or object, such as a tree or signpost. This coverage pays the cost to repair the vehicle or the actual cash value (ACV) of the automobile
Comprehensive coverage pays the cost of repairs or the cash value of the covered automobile minus any deductible. Comprehensive claims may be made for damage caused by:
- Windshield crack
- Contact with a bird or animal
- Falling objects
- Fire or explosion
- Earthquake
- Windstorm
- Hail, water, or flood
- Theft or larceny (stealing from the vehicle)
- Vandalism or malicious mischief
- Civil commotion.
North Carolina does not require automobile owners to have collision or comprehensive insurance coverage. However, most lenders require both coverages to protect a financed vehicle. Many car owners drop the coverage once they have paid off their car loan, and the vehicle continues to decrease in value.
Additional options for auto insurance coverage include specialized coverage and endorsements that modify an insurance policy. Additions may include:
- Medical payments (MedPay) coverage, which pays for reasonable and necessary medical and funeral expenses related to an automobile accident.
- Automobile death indemnity, specific disability, and total disability benefits coverage, which provides a benefit for death, dismemberment, specific disability, and total disability resulting from an automobile accident.
- Towing and labor costs coverage, which pays if the vehicle is disabled or the keys are lost, broken, or accidentally locked in the car.
- Extended transportation expenses coverage (rental reimbursement), which pays for vehicles up to a specified rate and maximum total.
- Customized equipment coverage, which pays for damage to custom furnishings, custom equipment, or additional permanently installed electronic accessories, such as sound systems.
How to Deal With Insurance After a Car Accident
After a car accident in North Carolina, you are to:
- Stop your vehicle at the scene of the crash if someone has been seriously injured or killed.
- Remain at the scene of the crash until a law enforcement officer completes their investigation of the crash or authorizes you to leave.
- Give your name, address, driver’s license number, and license plate number to any driver or occupants of any other vehicle involved in the car accident or any person struck.
- Assist anyone injured, such as by calling an ambulance.
Police who respond to a car accident should collect information from each driver, including their insurance information, and provide it to the other driver(s).
Your second duty after a car accident is to have yourself checked by a doctor. If you have suffered any injury, you should see a doctor within 24 hours, regardless of your symptoms. If you expect to file an injury claim, you need medical records to support your claim.
Most auto insurance carriers want policyholders to report an accident within 24 hours. If you advise them that you have been injured, that’s an excusable delay. Your insurer’s website probably provides an interactive form and explains how to file a claim after a car accident.
Be ready to give your insurance company such information as:
- Name, address, phone number, and insurance policy number
- Location, date, and time of accident
- Weather conditions at the time of the accident
- Photo of your damaged vehicle.
As you deal with any auto insurer, it is important that you avoid saying anything to insurance adjusters that may indicate that you were at fault for the accident. Do not sign anything unless a personal injury lawyer has reviewed it.
After reporting your accident to insurers, you should contact a Raleigh personal injury lawyer. An experienced personal injury attorney with Hardison & Cochran can review the details of your insurance coverage and help you demand fair compensation for your injuries and vehicle damage from the at-fault motorist.
Contact Our Raleigh, NC, Car Accident Lawyers
If you’ve been injured in a car accident caused by someone else’s negligence in North Carolina, contact an experienced car accident lawyer at Hardison & Cochran to protect your legal right to compensation for your losses. If you have a personal injury case, our injury attorneys will push insurers to pay you the maximum available through all applicable insurance coverage. Our Raleigh personal injury lawyers have provided effective legal representation to injured people in many personal injury cases.
Phone 800-434-8399 now or fill out our online contact form to set up a no-obligation consultation. There’s never a fee unless our injury attorneys recover compensation for you.
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