Under Civil Code § 3333.4, entitled ” Recovery of non-economic losses arising out of motor vehicle accident,” a person who is injured in an automobile accident, even if not at all his or her fault, may have his or her non-economic damages eliminated if the accident victim did not have automobile insurance.

As a result of this law, if you are involved in an automobile accident which is not at all your fault, no matter how serious the accident or the injuries that you suffer, you may be precluded from obtaining any non-economic damages, meaning pain and suffering damages, as a result of not having automobile insurance.  This means that the person that injured you in the accident will not have to provide any compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, or other nonpecuniary damages simply because you can not establish your financial responsibility as required by the financial responsibility laws of the state.

The law requires all California drivers to have minimal limits insurance. If you do not carry this minimal insurance, you run the risk of not being able to be fully compensated when you are in an accident which is not your fault.

Make sure that you always carry at least the minimal limit automobile insurance required by the state, to ensure that you are able to obtain damages from a driver that negligently injures you.