Driver Insured but Not Vehicle?

[rmkeith]

First, I have (thankfully) very limited auto insurance experience. Five days ago my son was hit by another driver. The driver provided proof of insurance to the police. The police report shows the other driver is at fault. The other driver did not file a claim, so we filed one with his company, Safeway Insurance. Side note: worst service I've ever had with any company.

Safeway person finally calls us back after 3 days and says the car the other driver was driving is not on the policy and they will not pay for my son's damage. He admitted the other driver was on the policy and did have liability insurance, but says they will not pay for my son's damage because the car their insured was driving was not on the policy. I have no idea how to proceed. I do not want to file an uninsured motorist claim with my company. My daughter just totaled her vehicle 4 weeks ago. Granted, we insure 6 cars and a home with this company and have amazing credit and no claims until now, but I'd rather not take the hit.

I'm wondering if anyone has an idea of how we proceed. My son is now 5 days without a vehicle or a rental. I'm guessing, but the damage is probably in the $7k range. It's a 4-wheel drive Jeep and the damage is underneath, broken axle, differential, all four wheels, and who knows what else. He was forced up onto a curb. Also body damage.

Thanks in advance. We are frustrated and scared and don't know how to proceed. Ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[djs]

It is going to be a complicated thing.
Was the car insured on another policy? If so, that is the primary coverage. Im guessing not though.

Your best option is to file through your own policy, they will see if there is a way to subrogate back to the vehicle who hit you. Subrogate is simply charging the claim back to the at fault party / insurance.

In general, the way it works is the at fault party pays:
- via the policy on the vehicle first, not necessarily where they are insured. This happens when you borrow a car and then hit someone.
- via their own policy from the driver if they are in a borrowed car (not an owned car). If they own the car, then it has to be listed on the policy for the policy to pay (or be a new car, skipping the exceptions in this statement)
- via the damaged parties insurance, i.e., your insurance

Claims get rated to the at fault driver, not to the insurance policy that pays. The small exception here is the possible loss of a claims free discount, but you won't have that anyway. Some states work slightly different (not many) and I don't know exactly how TN works.

Just file the claim with your carrier, let them sort it out. You will pay the deductible but potentially get it back if the carrier can get reimbursed by the at fault party.

Dan

 

[Sales71]

Safeway is the worst company I seen so far. They are not paying for my client claim as well. Your can file it with your insurance company then they will go after Safeway to collect the money back.

 

[ToddC]

Safeway is the worst company I seen so far. They are not paying for my client claim as well. Your can file it with your insurance company then they will go after Safeway to collect the money back.

They probably won't collect from Safeway... as policies have exclusions not to provide coverage for owed vehicle's that are not listed on the policy. The OP's carrier can feel free to go after the driver and owner directly. Chances are good that they won't recover anything.

My recommendation to the OP is to also report the lack of insurance to the police dept or I think the state will allow this. Some states suspend the person's drivers license until they show proof of payment for the damage they caused. They also then have a lot of additional fees to pay. If you don't do this, the person will continue to drive without insurance on the vehicle.