Any recourse in this situation? (guy dropped ins)

[Al3x Lee]

I'll add that the poor fellow(Car#1) racked up quite a bill for vehicle storage...(whilst he awaited the (alleged)insurance to be worked out), in the neighboorhood of $5000 I'm told.. Sad to think he'll be on the hook for that bill, for being hit by another driver...AND no reimbursement for his totalled car..
~sigh

Rgouette, sorry to hear about your daughter's fiance's situation. I'm a licensed agent in Oregon, so I don't know the exact laws in Maine, but I have been in a nearly identical situation here. I was hit by a guy who provided bogus info, and then it turned out he didn't even have insurance when the police got there to investigate. I filed a claim with my insurance, but my policy had comp, collision, uninsured motorist, etc. The downside is my physical damage carried a $1,000 deductible, which I had to pay.

My car got fixed, and my insurance paid my hospital bills. Still, unfortunately, the kid who hit me was 20 years old, had no insurance, and his only asset got totaled in the accident. My insurance company tried to subrogate and recover their costs and my deductible from the at-fault driver.

In your daughter's fiance's situation, he could try to take the guy to court, but even if he gets a judgment in his favor, there's no guarantee of getting anything paid out. As adjusterjack pointed out, the best course of action would have been to file a claim with the at-fault driver's insurance company right after the accident. You could still try this avenue if you have the driver's insurance info, as it sounds like the vehicle was listed at the time of the accident.

My dad used to have a good saying for these situations. Was it worth the meager amount saved not to carry comp, collision, uninsured motorist, etc.? That's the tuition cost; he will pay the costs associated with this accident and hopefully reconsider his insurance coverage. Was there a lesson to be learned from this situation? I think so.

I would highly suggest having him seek a competent insurance agent who can help him have his coverage set up correctly, so he never has to endure another headache like this in the future.

 

[rgouette]

Rgouette, sorry to hear about your daughter's fiance's situation. I'm a licensed agent in Oregon, so I don't know the exact laws in Maine, but

Appreciate the post: makes sense to me..

Cheers,
Rich

 

[pdbrian]

I’d go to the insurance company of Car#1 and ask for their guidance. I’m really surprised that if a police report was filed, they usually get information from the drivers licenses of those involved. That would make it difficult to provide bogus information unless he simply provided that to the driver of car #1. How did your daughters fiancé find out that he canceled his coverage after the accident? It may take some detective work to get this one figured out. I wish you the best on this.

 

[rgouette]

I’d go to the insurance company of Car#1 and ask for their guidance. I’m really surprised that if a police report was filed, they usually get information from the drivers licenses of those involved. That would make it difficult to provide bogus information unless he simply provided that to the driver of car #1. How did your daughters fiancé find out that he canceled his coverage after the accident? It may take some detective work to get this one figured out. I wish you the best on this.

yeah, I would also have thought that a police report might be leveraged somehow, perhaps in small claims court...seeing how he's out 5K+
It's kind of sad that his Ins comp couldn;t have offered at least SOMETHING in the way of advice, which I'm told they didn't..
Thanks!
R

 

[Al3x Lee]

It's kind of sad that his Ins comp couldn;t have offered at least SOMETHING in the way of advice, which I'm told they didn't..

Do you happen to know which insurance company it was? If it's Geico or some similar direct carrier, they probably won't be much help in these situations.

 

[rgouette]

Do you happen to know which insurance company it was? If it's Geico or some similar direct carrier, they probably won't be much help in these situations.

I believe Liberty Mutual..

 

[LostDollar]

My dad used to have a good saying for these situations. Was it worth the meager amount saved not to carry comp, collision, uninsured motorist, etc.? That's the tuition cost; he will pay the costs associated with this accident and hopefully reconsider his insurance coverage. Was there a lesson to be learned from this situation? I think so.

Caveat, not an agent.

That could very well come under the heading of inappropriate moralizing.

There are two or three sides to that discussion and you may not have all the relevant information for this situation.

 

[Al3x Lee]

That could very well come under the heading of inappropriate moralizing.

There are two or three sides to that discussion and you may not have all the relevant information for this situation.

Could you clarify what you mean by that?

 

[adjusterjack]

How did your daughters fiancé find out that he canceled his coverage after the accident?

Good question.

Would have to have identified the insurance company to find that out.

 

[rgouette]

I’d go to the insurance company .... How did your daughters fiancé find out that he canceled his coverage after the accident?

If I recall correctly, his ins company(they actually share the same company) was able to tell him the car was removed from the policy. When, I'm not certain...perhaps right after the accident!?