What happens to the person who injured me?

Some people are very curious what happens to the person who caused the accident. The truth is, nothing much ever happens to the person who caused the accident.  Of course, if they were injured, they will be dealing with their own health care issues.  If they were arrested for drunk driving or something else, then of course they will be dealing with that.  However, if they were insured, then very little will probably happen.  Their insurance company and your insurance company will likely want to take a "statement" from them to figure out what happened.  Some insurance companies won't bother with that if liability is obvious.  Some will insist on a statement from everyone and their dog regardless of how obvious the facts are.  

If their insurance company accepts fault, then the other party is pretty much done.  They will leave things to their insurance company to resolve. That's why they (and you) have insurance.  If the party who caused the accident was deliberately underinsured, then they might have more to worry about.  For example, let's say a very wealthy person gets the minimum auto insurance required by law.  Then if your damages far exceed the other party's insurance policy, you can technically go after that person personally (to get more than the insurance policy). That's a long discussion for another day.

If the other party had no insurance, then your insurance will probably provide you with coverage as long as you had "uninsured motorist" provisions on your policy. If you don't have underinsured motorist coverage, then you can entertain pursuing the responsible party in court and get money out of them personally.  You will likely have to file a lawsuit.

After the insurance company’s initial investigation of the incident, there is usually little or no contact between them and the person responsible for your damages.  So to answer the question, they are most likely going on with their lives, hoping that the case will be settled by the insurance company.  Their insurance rates will probably rise and/or their insurance company may ultimately dump them as clients.

If you want to discuss this further, please call (661) 414-7100 for further information or guidance on this issue