If I’m involved in a car accident under the influence of alcohol, will I be covered under my insurance?
If you are pulled over whilst driving, tested for alcohol and are found to be over the limit, the first thing that you could be facing is a heavy fine, the loss of points from your driving licence, or, indeed, the licence itself. In the most serious of cases, you could be facing a prison sentence.
The first thing that you must do is communicate the incident to your insurance company. They will take care of the material and personal damage caused to any third parties. However, this doesn’t mean that you won’t have to pay anything. The insurance company will reclaim the money back from you due to the fact that you have driven under the influence of alcohol, which is a breach of the terms and conditions within the contract that you signed on taking out your insurance policy – your policy will determine the level of cover and liability limits. This is known as the Power of Repetition of the insurers, which according to Article 10 of the revised Civil Responsibility and Insurance Law states the following:
The insurer, once the compensation payment has been made, will be able to repeat:
Against the driver, the owner of the vehicle that caused the accident and the insured, if the damage was caused with intent by either of them or due to driving under the influence of alcohol, or toxic drugs, narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.
Drinking alcohol and then driving increases the risk of being involved in an accident on the road.
If you drink, don’t drive.
Silvia Berenguer
www.scinnova.es