I was involved in a car accident this month in Virginia. I have dash cam footage of the incident, cop was on scene and police report was made, it was very obvious that the other driver was at fault. I opened a claim with the policy that was provided to me and got a call today letting me know that while the other driver is the owner of the policy, the car is not listed on that policy so they are most likely not going to pay anything out and they suggested I open a claim with my own insurance. The police officer did mention to me that the car was registered/owned by the driver’s wife, but no other insurance policy was provided. To my knowledge you can’t register a vehicle in VA without having it insured (DMV website mentions that they use a system to check for active insurance). His insurance says they are continuing to investigate, but it’s not giving me a good feeling.
I have a very clean driving record so this is all a new process for me, what are my options at this point? I’d like to avoid going through my insurance if possible.
Car’s not on the policy. They don’t owe you anything because there is no obligation for them to provide any coverage for the vehicle if it’s not written into the policy.
You have to go through your own insurance. They will attempt to find the owner of the vehicle and contact their insurance. Or they’ll pay you out, get you fixed up, and then try to contact the vehicle’s insurance.
You have two options.
Wait
Use your insurance.
That’s it. Why you’re refusing to use your own policy is kind of mind-boggling to me. The net result is the exact same without the long and drawn out process and time/hassle expense.
I ended up opening a claim with my insurance based on some of the feedback here. According to my provider, I can cancel it if I am able to claim under another insurance policy.
Even if it's not your fault always report to your insurance cause they can advocate on you behalf.
If the vehicle was not insured with his Carrier and does not qualify as an additional or replacement vehicle , you’re likely SOL with that carrier .
Your insurance can run a search to see if they can locate insurance on the vehicle
So in Virginia, if you rent a car would that car be covered by your insurance since it wouldn't be listed on the policy?
Most likely yes, there are some caveats. But rentals for the most part are covered as long as you did not opt in to any insurance
So if you opt into insurance that is primary, that insurance will pay. What is your purchase a secondary insurance at the rental company will that cause you to loose your coverage with your auto insurance company? Or are all insurance purchased at the counter primary?
If you opt in for liability coverage on a rental, the rental company's insurance is typically primary, and your personal auto policy would be excess if you already have a personal auto policy. In that type of case, a claim would have to exhaust the rental company's insurance limits before your personal insurance would pay anything out. This could vary state to state and per the rental contract, so if you go to rent a car and are considering buying the liability insurance from the rental company, check the contract to be sure.
Thank you
ask your insurance carrier to run a carrier discovery search (accurint) to verify if the vehicle has an active insurance policy. If so, they should be able to provide you with it to file your claim. The concern would then be if the driver is considered a permissive driver on that policy (or if maybe he is excluded depending on the situation). Since the wife is the registered owner, my assumption is there wont be issues if he is a permissive driver on her policy
Permissive use doesn't apply to spouses or any household members. They must be included or excluded from the policy.
good to know
If it was owned by his wife and not listed on the policy then it's unlikely that they will extend coverage as it probably won't qualify as a temporary substitute car. You should file with your own insurance for now.
File with your carrier they can investigate coverage for the car and press the issue with the drivers carrier if there’s no coverage on the car and his carrier can take over. I’ve seen estimates that as many as 10% of cars on the road are uninsured.
Contact your insurance. This is what you pay them to handle.
Your options are to file with your collision coverage, skip insurance and sue the at fault driver, or keep waiting and hoping that the other insurance carrier will cover this. There are a number of valid reasons, which other people have described, to explain why this wouldn’t be covered by the other person’s insurance policy.
Insurance follows the vehicle. If the wife has it insured somewhere else, you'll need to locate that policy. Hopefully the husband is included as a driver on that one. If you carry collision coverage, you can file on your own insurance policy.
Worst case pursue with your own insurance and also follow up with the officer that he provided false information and was in fact driving without insurance. Hopefully get fined possibly more for providing false documents to officer. His choice, his actions, his consequences
Go to your insurance company. They will get your vehicle fixed , and they will go after the other party to recoup their losses. This is why you pay premiums! They do all the background work. Court costs etc are all covered by your insurance
Only if OP has collision coverage or uninsured motorist coverage.
I always thought a driver's liability policy covers the driver's liability, and that's what applies if the driver gets in a collision. Why is the insurance that's on the other person's car (not the driver) relevant at all?
Insurance follows the vehicle. The vehicle's insurance is primary. The driver's insurance would be secondary or excess, if even applicable to the vehicle being driven, as it's probably not here at all.
Ok, so the insurer says his collision coverage isn't applicable to the car he was driving. This by no means that he was uninsured (which is how some seem to interpret the situation).
If he's at fault for the accident in which your car suffered damage, claims are covered through his Property Damage Liability coverage (which he most assuredly has inasmuch as it's required by most states).
Call his insurer and have them walk you through their potential liability and how to initiate a claim.
His insurer is the one who told me that they would most likely not be paying out the claim since the vehicle he was driving is not on his policy. Either they are lying to me or collision coverage doesn’t follow the driver.
What’s the insurance carrier?
You always go through your own insurance. They go after the other guy.
Find out if the wife has insurance on her car, and if the husband is listed.
Owner allowed, gave permission to driver. Did owner report stolen car ?
Owner could be sued for negligence
Insurance follows the car, not the driver. That’s why you have to have insurance to REGISTER a vehicle and not to get a drivers license.
I’d sue them asap. Call an attorney right away
Sounds like maybe you need to sue the drivers wife if she was the rightful owner of the car and it supposedly had insurance on it
Damn idk how VA insurance works but in CA even if the at fault party's (AFP's) vehicle isn't covered, their liability still provides coverage for second/third party damages.
Sounds like you're getting screwed and might need to sue the AFP personally.
Yes, a driver's own insurance could apply while driving car that's not on their policy. But insurance follows the vehicle as primary, so this needs to go through the car's insurance first, not the driver's.
This is also not just a random friend's car that he was driving, it was his wife's. That is a household vehicle that will probably then be excluded from coverage under the guy's policy since it's not on his policy. They need to find out if the car had insurance.
It's pretty simple tbh
Sue the driver
Sue the vehicle owner
An insurance policy will appear, or it won't. Either way what ever the judgement is, they'll still have to pay. Insurance or no.
OP has insurance. Why waste time and money, tracking these people down and suing them or whatever? OP can use their insurance and the insurance can worry about the rest. No need to complicate your life for some vehicle damages.
Yeah that's a fair point. but there are still somethings to consider.
Does your carrier treat non-subro claims as at fault? (not sure on VA law surrounding this)
Does the OP even have collision coverage through their own insurance? What's the deductible? Will the CDW waiver apply? If not, OP could be out $1K-$2K depending on their deds
Did OP sustain any injuries? I've had many people get into a car accident and leave with a soreness or aching/pain that NEVER goes away.
And you don't necessarily HAVE to sue them yourself, a lot of time the carrier will do it all for you.
Yea, if you handle the claim through your coverage, your insurance can then pursue recovery against the at-fault person. OP has said they are filing through their policy now. Right, OP will need to pay their deductible, just the result of using your own coverage.
If you don't make a claim under your coverage though, your insurance can't and won't do anything for you, they can't sue another person for you. They aren't your attorneys.
VA has mandatory UM coverage too.
Damn that sucks, I would really be curious about the CDW here though. Esp if my ded was over $1K
Well CA has the CDW, VA does not. I'm not sure if any state besides CA has the CDW for uninsured drivers.
UMPD could be applicable, if that person is uninsured, but I'm not sure if that coverage has a deductible or uncovered portion in VA.
Damnnnnn that sucks
I'm only licensed for CA and NV so the way insurance is handled in some of those new England and mid west states blows my mind
“I dont know how VA insurance works….. “sounds like you’re getting screwed”
Peak Reddit
Look man, if someone else hits me, and their insurance refused to pay, I'm getting screwed. Regardless of if its the law or what ever you're still getting screwed either way. I don't need a PHD to determine that having to pay for someone else's mistake sucks ass.....
Lack of critical thinking skills, Peak reddit.
Since he is a covered driver his insurance will cover his liability (your cars damages). What happens to his car doesnt affect you.
Not if the vehicle is not on the insurance.
Definitely not true. Your insurance covers you when youre driving other vehicles
Not for owned vehicles. They may have some automatic coverage for a newly purchased vehicle but that doesn’t seem to apply here.
Umm...insurance covers a driver and car.
IF the car is ON the policy. In this case it is NOT.