Auto Accident Insurance Rules Differ in Virginia Versus North Carolina
In our federal system in the U.S. each state has control of certain legal issues and insurance is one of them. There is an insurance bureau in each state which controls issues like what the standard automobile accident policy is for personal vehicles and what kind of coverage it must provide. Then the law of each state including the cases and the statutes are also potentially different when you cross state lines. As an experienced personal injury attorney licensed both in Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC) I am familiar with many of the differences between those two states laws. Knowing exactly how the insurance rules work and how to use them to my client’s best advantage is part of what I do each day in my personal injury practice at Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers.
Given the long border between Virginia and North Carolina which we are so close to in Hampton Roads, these issues come up on a regular basis. If you have an injury case that may relate to Virginia and North Carolina you want an attorney who knows the basic rules and is licensed in both states. For example, you might live in Elizabeth City or Moyock, North Carolina and come up to Virginia Beach or Chesapeake, Virginia to work. Or you might be from York County or Portsmouth, Virginia and have a vacation house in the outer banks of North Carolina at Nags Head or Duck that you regularly visit.
You might be a railroad worker who lives in Emporia, Virginia and goes down to Roanoke Rapids, NC to report for duty each day. Whether you are traveling on the highways for pleasure or business there’s always a chance of a car or truck wreck with injuries. In fact, the average American will be in 4.5 car crashes each in their lifetime. So whether your accident happens on the Virginia or the North Carolina side there going to be some issues that may relate to both states or at least a question as to whether they do.
If you have suffered from injuries in a car crash that happened in North Carolina then the law that generally applies is the law of the place where the accident happened, in that case, North Carolina. However if you are from Virginia and you happen to have an accident across the border to the south then the insurance law that normally applies as to your own insurance policy is the state where that policy was purchased in this case, Virginia. Where you can sue and who you can sue can also vary depending upon the residence of the at-fault driver or if it’s a trucking company bear losses. You can see how it can get complicated quickly.
If you have a question that involves the injury insurance and accident laws of Virginia and North Carolina and the interplay among them please feel free to give me a call. I enjoy the challenging puzzle of it. More importantly, I enjoy helping people to get them the best result that I can when they get hurt through no fault of their own on the roads of Virginia or North Carolina.
If you have been injured in a car wreck in Virginia or North Carolina, call me at 757.455.0077 for a free consultation.
