Legal Question in Insurance Law in Oregon

Re: UI At Fault

Yes, you DO have some rights, as against your own insurance company. Look at your policy, and you will see that you have a right to have the matter of FAULT arbitrated, and you can make your arguments there. You evidently have uninsured motorist coverage for PROPERTY damage as well, or they wouldn't even be paying you the 25%. That part is a little confusing, frankly, since ordinarily, they wouldn't pay you at all under your UM, unless you were LESS than 50% at fault yourself! Was this an accident that happened outside Oregon?

As to your arbitration clause, it's not clear from what you said which portion of your policy is having a claim made against it -- were you hurt at all?

The arbitration MIGHT be the easiest way to handle it, and usually, the policies require that THEY pay the costs of the arbitrator, not you. You might want to have a lawyer look over your policy for you.

Your OTHER option is to sue the uninsured driver in small claims court. I wouldn't do THAT, though, until you've looked over your options from your insurance co. with a lawyer. It's possible to ruin your claim with insurance if you make a false move.

As to the LAW, there is caselaw out there that says the OTHER driver LOSES HIS RIGHT OF WAY privilege (ie, he HAD that right, by being on YOUR right in the uncontrolled intersection), when SPEED is an issue. Problem is, you really have to treat these uncontrolled intersections as if they had stop signs. Chances are if you'd slowed down ENOUGH -- possible to a near-stop -- then you WOULD have seen the speeding car coming. But even so, THEN it should be 75-25, but in the OTHER direction! 75% fault or more against the other guy!

Good luck, and don't let too much time pass, or you can lose your right to make a claim later.

Sam Hochberg