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MyFreeAccount OP t1_iybx61e wrote

Reply to comment by CircaSixty8 in My 19yo nephew was at fault and uninsured in an auto accident. He received a bill for $54k from the opposing insurance company. by MyFreeAccount

He had already moved. This happened while on a return visit. The question is... what can be done for the best outcome, taking into consideration the facts...

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CircaSixty8 t1_iybxk9v wrote

Car insurance covers the car, not so much the driver. The mother and grandmother should file a claim with their car insurance. Their premium may go up, but relatively speaking, this is not a huge deal.

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MyFreeAccount OP t1_iybybak wrote

The mother's insurance company claims that the accident is not covered.

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CircaSixty8 t1_iyc1cvn wrote

Why did you leave that out of the original post?!

What else did you leave out? Did the kid not have a license?

Anyway, the only thing they can do is file an appeal. They may need to get a lawyer.

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mom2angelsx3 t1_iydle9r wrote

Sounds like he was not only removed but also listed as an excluded driver, that would be the only was I see that the accident would not be covered.

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[deleted] t1_iycxpnc wrote

[removed]

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[deleted] t1_iydgp6j wrote

Not with kids. Usually they sign an exclusion clause because the risk is so high to get rates lowered

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CircaSixty8 t1_iydjbj8 wrote

If the kid was "excluded from the insurance" OP should have said that.

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[deleted] t1_iyd2gvt wrote

I assume what happened is that he was on the insurance as a resident of the household and regular driver. When he moved, he was taken off the insurance. However, when visiting, and with permission to drive, he's still covered by whoever is insuring the car. The exception is if he was specifically barred from driving it by the policy, which is rare but does happen on occasion.

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itsdan159 t1_iydf6xg wrote

This, though I think it can vary by state my understanding is in most lending your car to someone occasionally will still carry your policy's protection.

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Logic_Delivery t1_iye1csj wrote

Ok after reading through all your comments and trying to piece things together - this is where I'm at

  1. The Jetta is registered to the Mom/Grandma but was primarily driven by the nephew before he moved and insured as such

  2. When he moved, the car wasn't going to be used an coverage was reduced to the minimum and his name was removed as primary driver. It may have had liability insurance, but sometimes people choose an absurdly low limit (looks like CA is $5k minimum). To be helpful, we need more details on the exact coverage on the vehicle

  3. It sounds like your nephew being the driver might be irrelevant UNLESS he was specifically excluded from the policy, but that doesn't sound like its the case.

  4. My guess is that the property damage limit was just extremely low and he totaled a Sprinter, which when new can easily push $60-70K with options. A $5k limit (the state minimum) and being unfortunate enough to hit a nearly new van would explain the bill he received.

  5. There isn't much to be done if the above is true. I assume insurance also didn't cover the Jetta if it was liability only. Simply put, your nephew causes north of $60k in damages that he or the family will be sued for.

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Askew-glasses t1_iyd1ej8 wrote

His finding a way to pay it.

Otherwise, it's going to hit his mother and grandmother, because their names are listed on the policy.

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peter303_ t1_iycab8f wrote

Most policies give you 30 days to update policy upon moving. Insurance costs could be rather different in new location.

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