You are responsible for an automobile accident, and a breathalyzer test reveals you were under the influence of alcohol, beyond the limits allowed by law. What are the consequences for your insurance in addition to the criminal sanctions provided? Perpetrator compensation as an insured driver, you must have third-party liability insurance which is a customary minimum guarantee for any driver mostly from 1958 onwards.
This third party liability insurance is intended to cover any damage you may cause to third parties, whether they are other drivers, their passengers or yours, or pedestrians, cyclists. This damage can be of a material and/or bodily nature.
Even if you’re responsible for an accident under the influence of alcohol, your insurer can not refuse to compensate the victims.
It would be unfair for victims of accidents not to be compensated on the ground that the responsible driver committed an aggravated fault by drinking alcohol.
Your Compensation as a Responsible Driver
It is quite different from your own compensation if you are responsible for an accident under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.
For the rest, it is necessary to refer to the conditions of your contract or contact the Greenwald law firm. Most often, it provides for exclusion clauses relating to the consumption of alcohol and/or narcotics, in case of a responsible accident.
These clauses have the effect of excluding compensation by the insurer of your own damage hardware, if you have purchased comprehensive insurance and damage your body or if you have taken a driver’s individual guarantee. The legal protection guarantee will not intervene either. More generally, driving while intoxicated generally excludes all optional guarantees.
In all cases where an authority national police or gendarmerie goes to the scene of an accident, blood alcohol control is systematically carried out.
If you are involved in an accident for which you are not responsible but driving under the influence of alcohol or a narcotic product, the insurance of the responsible driver cannot refuse to compensate you.
