People are surprised to learn that many businesses do not have liability insurance. It happens more often than you would think. We're asked to help someone who was injured because of a business's negligence, only to find out the business does not have insurance to cover the loss.
Unlike car insurance, there is no law requiring a business to have liability insurance. However, many lease agreements or loan or financing agreements require the business to have insurance. In other words, the business agrees to carry insurance in order to get financing or lease space. But these agreements are separate from the law.
So what happens if you're inured by a business's negligence and it doesn't have insurance? Are you out of luck? Not necessarily. Some businesses may have enough liquid assets to pay compensation to an injured customer, but most of the time those assets are too small to fully compensate. The problem is that the extent of a business's assets is not public knowledge and it is difficult to get that information outside of a lawsuit. That is why we sometimes hire a special investigator to look into whether an uninsured business has enough money to compensate an injured customer.
If the business is uninsured and it does not have enough liquid assets to fully compensate an injured customer, the customer is most likely out of luck. You can't squeeze blood from a turnip. Obtaining and collecting a judgment from an uninsured and under-funded business will cost more in time and money than what you would be able to collect. Most of the time, it simply isn't worth it.
If you've been injured because of a business's negligence and are concerned whether the business has insurance or enough liquid assets to compensate you, please feel free to contact our office.