I was at an appointment 45 minutes away from my home and took my friend. While I was there he decides to get something to eat and another car hits my car while leaving a shopping center. Both vehicles are mercedez and have full coverage. My friend was driving my car and i find out that he is not licensed he is 27 and not a citizen. He does live here and has a job and has his own vehicle which by the way has liability insurance coverage. My car is under my husbands name and I am the main driver because he uses another insured vehicle 99% of the time. The person who hit my car already filled a claim with her insurance Mercury and I filled a claim with my friends insurance hoping I wont have to use mine. Now his insurance is calling me and my agent whom I made aware of the situation right away states that I now have to fill a claim with my insurance. Before I do this....I'm writing to you for some guidance....this site has helped me out tremendously in the past and now i'm seeking you once more. FYI my car is already in the shop and has $3000.00 worth of damages my friend gave me $2000.00 cash. HELP
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States State (if USA): California Already Tried: filled claim with friend's insurance
Thank you for the post, I am happy to assist you by answering your questions. Is your question whether you should file a claim with your insurance, or whether your insurance will likely cover the claim as your friend was an unlicensed driver?
Both....
Thank you, XXXXX XXXXX is unlikely to cover the accident because the driver is excluded as an unlicensed operator (assuming there is any question/issue as to your friend's liability for the accident). Your insurance company would likely pursue the other driver's insurance if the other driver is liable for the accident however. In either event, there is a chance your insurance may go up due to the unlicensed driver operating your vehicle which makes you more of a liability for the insurance company because an unlicensed driver is not considered to be a competent operator of the vehicle (because his/her ability to safely operate a motor vehicle has not been established/affirmed by the state). Therefore, you should strongly consider requesting the additional $1000 from your friend to repair your vehicle, and should your friend be deemed liable for the accident paying the other driver's repair costs as well. Please let me know if you need additional guidance.
When i called his insurance i was told that my car wont be covered but the other person's will be covered since the damages were obvioudsly more. What I don't understand is that she hit my car....doesn't that count for something? Since the car is under my husbands name...how is this going to affect him...?
If your friend is liable, his insurance has an obligation to pay for the damages caused up to the policy limits, not just damages to the vehicle with the greater damage (assuming his policy does not contain an exclusion should he not be licensed). The fact that she hit your car does not speak to whom is liable for the collision. To illustrate, if one car pulls in front of another car and the car pulling in front of the car is struck, the driver of the car that is struck could easily be deemed at fault for pulling into the other driver's lane. The fact that the car is under your husband's name has no bearing on him, except for insurance purposes in that your husband's insurance premiums may increase as a vehicle under his name has a claim.
I was really worried for my husband and the car being under his name. Can I still ask him for the additional 1,000.00 to pay for my car? Does he have rights because he now wants to get an attorney. He knows im very upset but I've maintained my composure in order for this unfortunate situation to get resolved.
Yes, you can still ask him for the additional $1000. The unlicensed driver is considered negligent per se as he was not licensed and is presumed incapable of properly operating a motor vehicle. Further, because he lead you to believe that he was licensed, you have a valid claim against the driver for misrepresentation and/or negligence in that he had the duty to disclose that he was not licensed prior to obtaining your consent to operate the motor vehicle but omitted this information and via omission represented that he was a licensed driver.
Does he have any rights....(.he's not licensed, not a citizen...) if he decides to seek legal advice? Also he does not know where we live....how do i legally request or state to their car insurance representatives that I do not want out address and personal information to be shown on the documents?
He has the right to seek legal guidance, the right to bring suit in US courts, but in terms of the ability to successfully you, this is very, very unlikely as from your description he has no claim against you whatsoever. There is no way to withhold your personal information from him should this matter actually be litigated. Further, your address is considered public information and no privacy interest is therefore had in such information. If he really want to know where you live, he could easily pull your property tax records by running a property tax search. For example, if you live in LA county he can search here: http://maps.assessor.lacounty.gov/mapping/viewer.aspThis is why many celebrities own homes in the name of a business entity so as not to make their address so easily known.
What type of legal advice can an attoney give him then to make him feel protected? Can the other driver come after my husband?
Other than that he is not the cause of the accident but your vehicle malfunctioning is the cause, none. From your description this is not a viable argument/contention however as you never raised the issue nor did he when he paid you the $2000. The other driver can come after your husband as ultimately if your friend caused the accident you and your husband are liable as owners of the vehicle that was involved in the collision.
Can you explain the top portion of your answer a little more please I dont understand it. Since the car is insured with full coverage....will that help? So the other driver coming after my husband could be the worst case scenerio...even if the unlicensed driver's insurance could pay for her damages? When my agent called her....she started her conversation with my agent like this......"The whole situatiation is very comical to begin with"
What I meant by the first past of the last response is that your friend's attorney could advise your friend that he is not liable for the accident because the cause of the accident was a malfunction of your vehicle (e.g. brakes not working, unable to switch gears, etc.). The other driver coming after your husband is the worst case scenario, your husband can then pursue your friend for her damages if your friend does not pay for them prior to her coming after your husband.
He already gave his statement to his insurance of how the accident happened and stated that he was driving slow about to turn left towards the main street and the other driver came out of no where and hit him on the front left side of my tire area causing alot more damage to her vehicle than mine. Will the fact that my car is already in the shop getting repaired hurt me and do i tell his insurance that information and also do i tell them that he has given me 2000.00 cash... Do i still go ahead and file a claim with my insuance?
No, the fact that your vehicle is in the shop for repairs will not hurt you. Yes, you tell his insurance that information and that he has paid you as an acknowledgment of his liability for causing the accident. You should hold off on filing a claim with your insurance and rather than doing that, sue him in small claims court if necessary.
Okay....I've asked about filing with my insurance because of 1. The other driver calling my agent asking if i have full coverage and my insurance agent telling me to just go ahead and file a claim to at least have it on file.....and I now have his insurance calling me wanting to ask me questions and they also want my insurance information....what do i tell them
You would tell them your insurance is irrelevant as to his liability and respectfully XXXXX XXXXX they honor your claim by paying for your repairs as his liability is clear, and should you not receive payment, you will have no choice but to sue him.
Can I tell them that even though I've already told them that he has already paid me 2000 cash? How likely is it that an insurance company that insured an unlicensed driver with liabilty insurance honor my claim?
Yes. Unlikely, the most likely event is that if he does not pay you, you will have to sue him.
Sadly and infuriatingly he has nothing for me to sue him for and is already planning to leave to mexico as soon as he knows the outcome.
Your recourse then would be to pursue him before he leaves seeking to attach assets held in the US to satisfy this liability, and should therefore strongly consider retaining counsel to expedite this process. Please remember to rate my answer if I have answered your initial questions of "whether you should file a claim with your insurance", and "whether your insurance will likely cover the claim as your friend was an unlicensed driver." I know that we have gone well beyond these initial questions, and this is because I want you to be satisfied with your Just Answer experience.
Experience: Negotiate, Draft, and Review many complex commercial agreements each year.