1. NO-FAULT INSURANCE BENEFITS: Whether you are at fault or not, you are entitled to receive two types of benefits:
For Wage Loss reimbursement, you are entitled to receive 85% of your actual wage loss, subject to a maximum of $500 per week.
Replacement Services/homemaker reimbursement is to reimburse you for expense that you have incurred for either hiring someone else to do work that you would have done if you had not been injured or homemaker reimbursement is for reimbursement for work you are no longer able to complete around the house such as house-cleaning, snow removal, etc. For replacement services/homemaker reimbursement, you are entitled to receive a maximum of $200.00 per week.
Note: Even if you had no insurance at the time of the accident, you may be able to qualify for insurance coverage under the Minnesota Assigned Claims procedure. If you did not have insurance at the time of your accident, you should consult an attorney to see if you might qualify for this type of insurance coverage.
2. LIABILITY CLAIMS: If the other driver (or the driver with whom you were riding as a passenger) was at fault in causing the accident, you may make a claim to collect money damages from the “At-Fault” driver. If you were riding as a passenger, you may collect 100% of your damages, other than those paid by No- Fault insurance. If you were a driver, you may collect a percentage of your damages equal to the “at-fault” driver’s percentage of fault. (I.e. if the “At-Fault” driver was 80% at fault and you were 20% at fault, you may collect 80% of your damages.)
3. UNINSURED MOTORIST (UM) COVERAGE: If the “At-Fault” driver had no insurance, you may collect UM benefits from you own insurance company in an amount equal to the amount you could have collected from the “At-Fault” driver’s insurance company (up to the amount of UM coverage that you had on your policy). UM coverage is required by law and must be included in the coverage on every automobile insurance policy issued in the State of Minnesota.
4. UNDERINSURED MOTORIST (UIM) COVERAGE: If the “At-Fault” driver had insurance, but did not have enough to fully compensate you for your injuries, you may collect UIM benefits from you own insurance company in an amount equal to the amount you could have collected from the “at-fault” driver’s insurance company if that driver had had more coverage (up to the amount of UIM coverage that you had on your policy). UIM coverage is required by law and must be included in the coverage on every automobile insurance policy issued in the State of Minnesota.
It is very important to know that, if you settle with the “At-Fault” driver or that driver’s insurance company without properly protecting your rights to pursue the UIM, you may lose your right to collect UIM coverage. For that reason, it is very important to consult an attorney at Schmidt-Salita Law Team before making any settlement with any of the involved insurance companies.
5. WORKER’S COMPENSATION BENEFITS: If you are injured while on the job, you may have the right to collect both Workers’ Compensation benefits and the other benefits that you normally could collect (including some No-Fault benefits and Liability compensation from the “At-Fault” driver.
Note: There may be other benefits to which you may be entitled if you have been injured in a car accident, such as welfare claims.