Insurance on driver or a specific vehicle

by lpdakotank » Fri Sep 13, 2013 09:31 am

I have complete coverage on my girlfriends car, this is the only car we have used, to save money we parked my trucks. I needed my truck for work yesterday and my girlfriend added it to the insurance when she woke up but about the same time a teenage driver believed to be texting crossed the center line and totaled my truck. Since I am not liable for causing the accident will her insurance company reimburse me for my loss? Also, will they be pay me enough to recoup my exact loss? What about the expense I had to pay to tow my truck home? FYI - this is in WA state.

Total Comments: 3

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 10:29 am Post Subject:

I needed my truck for work yesterday and my girlfriend added it to the insurance when she woke up but about the same time a teenage driver believed to be texting crossed the center line and totaled my truck.

How convenient that you just managed to get insurance for your truck at the very same moment it was totaled by another driver.

will her insurance company reimburse me for my loss?

Apparently, however, you don't understand how insurance works. Your insurance is not responsible for damage caused by another driver. No one here can answer this question because we have no idea what coverage your girlfriend applied for at the same time you were involved in a collision. Unless your truck was covered for collision, the answer is NO.

On the other hand, your girlfriend's insurance company is just as likely to have you investigated for insurance fraud because there is every likelihood that the collision happened BEFORE your girlfriend called the insurance company.

Unlike Obamacare that will allow you to get health insurance AFTER you get sick and require the health insurance company to pay claims that happened prior to getting the insurance, auto insurance is something that you must have BEFORE something happens. It is not uncommon for people who drive without insurance to suddenly call an insurance company and apply for coverage minutes after they have been involved in a collision. A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF INSURANCE FRAUD that can land a person in prison for up to five years in most states.

will they be pay me enough to recoup my exact loss?

Auto insurance is only responsible for ACTUAL CASH VALUE -- replacement cost minus depreciation. No one here can answer that question either. Was your truck a showpiece or a beater?

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 05:04 am Post Subject:

There are other variables in this question as well. At the time of the accident, was the police called to the scene. If so, they would have requested the licenses, insurance information, etc. at the time of the accident. Also, what does the police report state in regards to who is at fault in this accident. But, I agree with the prior posts, it all depends on the policy that your girlfriend has prior to the accident, because, insurance carriers will normally provide insurance for the vehicle and will extend the coverage for "permissive use" if the insured permitted you to use the vehicle.

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 08:38 am Post Subject:

was the police called to the scene. If so, they would have requested the licenses, insurance information, etc.

Possibly . . . or not at all. If there were no injuries, an incident such as this might only be an officer's log entry. There could be no report. "0828. Responded to vehicle collision on Wilson Road. No injuries, no report. Parties exchanged information." Remember, the OP would have no insurance information to offer -- it was being applied for at that very same moment.

what does the police report state in regards to who is at fault

Completely immaterial. Even if there were a question of fault involved, a police report is not "fact", only "observation" . . . or less -- inconclusive because it is based only on the reports of the persons involved. Insurance companies are not bound to honor what is written in a police report.

This is purely a question of coverage and timing. There is more auto insurance fraud committed in the US every year than any other kind of insurance fraud, and there are hundreds of insurance fraud CRIMINAL cases filed each year across the country as the result of people applying for auto (and other types of) insurance moments AFTER an accident (or other loss) happens. They drove around town every other day prior without insurance because it wasn't important enough.

I sat in traffic court one day listening to the "stories" of all the persons who were cited for not having proof of insurance at the time they were stopped for speeding or some other violation. After the judge heard someone say, on that day, for the fifth or sixth time, "I was on my way to get insurance when I got stopped,," that he announced to the rest of the courtroom, "Look, folks, I hear this same excuse about a hundred times each week. I don't want to hear it again today."

Look back at the original post. The fellow just happened to need to use his uninsured vehicle "for work" this one day. Every other day it was parked "to save money." Yeah, right.

And at precisely the same moment his girlfriend was waking up and calling her insurance company to have him added to her policy, his truck gets totaled in a collision.

The fact is, many insurance companies would look at this boyfriend-girlfriend situation and require separate policies because they are not married. Additionally, if the truck was "needed . . . for work", such as to haul contractor's tools around town, it might have to be covered under a commercial auto policy and would not be covered under a personal auto policy.

What's really telling about this post? The fact that the OP never returned to comment further.

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