Here’s what you need to do!
There has been a noticeable increase in uninsured drivers in Canada. For example, in July of 2023, police on Vancouver Island issued 65 tickets for the offence of driving uninsured. Compare that to the 21 tickets issued for the same offence in July of 2022.
What happens if you get into a car accident with another vehicle, and the other driver doesn’t have any car insurance? Can you still file a claim? Will you still receive a settlement?
The Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Program (MVAC)
If you find yourself in this situation, I recommend reaching out to a personal injury lawyer for some guidance. The first thing your lawyer will always do is try to go through someone’s insurance. Even if you can only receive a partial payment, going through insurance and trying to get some sort of compensation is always Plan A.
However, on some rare occasions, there is truly no other option but to go the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Program (or MVAC) route. This is a last-resort solution, but still an option. Note that if you qualify for any other type of payment or partial payment, MVAC will not be an option.
The maximum possible compensation through MVAC is $200,000. If multiple injured persons are being compensated via MVAC and all of those involved have damages over $200,000, the payment will be divided up or pro-rated.
How to Qualify for MVAC
- Try all other possible routes to receive compensation; even partial payments
- Sue the individual or entity at fault for your injuries
- You must have physical injuries, as property damage only does not qualify
- The accident must have taken place in the province of Alberta
- The person responsible for the accident was uninsured or the driver is unknown (such as in the case of a hit-and-run)
It can be difficult to know how to properly file a lawsuit or whom to sue if the at-fault driver is unknown or does not have insurance. This is where your Personal Injury Lawyer will be able to help you out and ensure that no critical details or statute of limitations are missed.
There are deadlines you must be aware of when filing through MVAC. Your lawyer will be able to ensure that no deadlines are missed. However, even if you find out that you’ve missed important deadlines, you should still reach out to a lawyer. At McGuiness Law, we provide free, no-obligation consultations. It would be during this consultation that we can tell you if you still have a claim or not, even with missed deadlines.
McGuiness Law
At McGuiness Law, we are experienced at dealing with insurance companies and the games they often like to play (to get out of paying). We have helped our clients receive settlements of $37,500 when the insurance company tried to claim that the personal injury victim only deserved $4,700 – and it only took us eight weeks to get it done.
When you work with us, there are no up-front, out-of-pocket costs to you. We will have a free consultation with you, and we will let you know if you have a case or not. If it sounds like you would benefit from us, we will work for you and only take a percentage of your settlement as payment. If it sounds like you would not benefit from working with us, we will tell you exactly that.
To connect with us, please contact us via our online contact form, or give us a toll-free call at 1-833-585-4145!