[FlukeSS]

Originally Posted by v8fanboy

I absolutely agree mate, been kicking myself for not having uninsured motorist for property damage/full coverage on my vehicle. It absolutely sucks, desperately needed that money to put on a down payment for a house...

Just to clarify your car was paid off already correct? I know most lenders require new cars to be fully insured if there is a lien.

If you had a lien, you never would have been allowed to drop your insurance to Liability only regardless of circumstance. That lender would have been notified of the change and they would be on you like flies on poop.

IF however your car was paid off already, then like others have said, you might be SOL. Might as well claim payment plan at the very least.


Also to clarify something else: At fault states the other faulted driver's insurance pays for everything. If you are in a No Fault state like I am. Your insurance pays for yours and his insurance pays for his regardless of who's at fault. Obviously Liability doesn't cover accidents and any repairs come out of your pocket.

[FarmerFran]

Interesting, In NC you have to have uninsured motorist no mater what, state law.

[dpevans]

When you say "his insurance" you mean he has car insurance just not on this car, his car? someone else car he borrowed? Not sure about Calif but what ever car I drive I am covered as long as I have owner permission to drive the car. So I guess I would contact an attorney and pay a one time fee and find out your options. If he had insurance on other vehicles he should be covered. It's the same as renting a car, If I rent a car I am covered under my auto policy.

[Need4Camaro]

That has GOT to suck… but unfortunately as many have eluded, you’re screwed. No amount of legal delegating is going to get you what you want.

NEVER
…NEVER…
……NEVER
……….EVER

take full coverage off of a vehicle even if unused if it will cost more than a months worth of pay to replace it. NEVER… Also if your car is financed you most likely also have violated your financial agreement as lenders often require the vehicle to be fully insured incase of catastrophic loss.

As a rule of thumb, whenever you try to cut corners in saving money by reducing protection, you will ALWAYS be attacked in that area. No matter what.. …it’s a principal in life, whatever can go wrong WILL go wrong. So don’t leave spots open for you to be vulnerable only to save a few dollars. It’s not worth it.

To be fair, you’re not alone. I learned this lesson the hard way myself back in 2013. Only I was at fault. We had just changed insurance policies on a Ford F-150. I personally explicitly requested full coverage and they acknowledged. A few weeks after the policy began, I ended up rear ending a vehicle… …I was at fault… the policy covered the damage to other vehicles but did NOT cover my vehicle as I shockingly came to find out they wrote me up for liability only when I explicitly requested full coverage. I didn’t read the declarations page to see it was only liability… and unfortunately I didn’t record the call so I couldn’t sue them… the car lender required me to pay the entire loan of the vehicle up front otherwise it was off to court I go…

You need to becareful with insurance. It is nothing to play around with.

..atleast not for those who are honest working citizens that is.

[FlukeSS]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

and unfortunately I didn’t record the call so I couldn’t sue them…

This isn't true either. All Customer Service/Helpdesks record calls. Even if you don't.

You could have sued them, because otherwise its your word against theirs and they can't prove you didn't say you wanted full coverage.

And if they pull the recording they'll have it on record that you said full coverage.

Either way you had the option. They would have settled out of court if they had the recording of you saying full coverage. Otherwise what they did is called Deceptive Practices and is subject to Consumer Fraud under the Consumer's Protection Act.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by FlukeSS

This isn't true either. All Customer Service/Helpdesks record calls. Even if you don't.

You could have sued them, because otherwise its your word against theirs and they can't prove you didn't say you wanted full coverage.

And if they pull the recording they'll have it on record that you said full coverage.

Either way you had the option. They would have settled out of court if they had the recording of you saying full coverage. Otherwise what they did is called Deceptive Practices and is subject to Consumer Fraud under the Consumer's Protection Act.

Totally agree. I used to work for a major carrier and 100% of their calls were recorded for liability reasons.

[SSDan]

Originally Posted by FarmerFran

Interesting, In NC you have to have uninsured motorist no mater what, state law.

Double check that to see if NC mandates uninsured motorist coverage for property damage. Most always the coverage for uninsured/underinsured motorist applies to liability for bodily injury and excludes property damage. Your carrier covers your property damage (damaged car) through first party coverages (Collision and Comprehensive).

In this case as pointed out by the OP and many others - the OP dropped his first party coverages and learned a hard lesson.

OP - I don't follow how the insurance company gave you the middle finger. The at fault party had no liability coverage and you dropped your first party coverage. I'm sorry you face this tough situation. One way to sell your car as is would be to see if there are any salvage auctions held in your area. Salvage rebuilders go you these auctions to find cars they can rebuild and sell. They often pay a pretty good dollar. I wish you the best of luck.

[TP2SS]

Originally Posted by FlukeSS

If you had a lien, you never would have been allowed to drop your insurance to Liability only regardless of circumstance. That lender would have been notified of the change and they would be on you like flies on poop.

Yep, when I bought my vert I took out a small loan (like 13k of the 33 I paid for it) just so I didn't decimate my checking acct in case I needed some extra cash. The car was delivered to me in Dec 2019 and went from the trailer into a storage unit. I only had comp on it for storage. A few months later I get a notice from the credit union that said I needed full coverage on it. I talked with them directly and told them it was in storage until Spring and they wouldn't budge. I went in to the branch the next day and paid it off, and by then I was comfortable with my cash reserves so I didn't need the loan anyway!

As far as changing the policy twice/year for full/comp-only, I have a great agent and I send an email and get his reply which confirms what I want and serves as proof in case something happens. I use Citizens/Hanover for cars and house and am VERY pleased with them!

[cdrptrks]

You could also look into rebuilding it to save money if you were planning to keep the car for a long time since you said the engine/transmission are still good but would need a different car to drive while waiting for that process to be completed. But since the insurance company totaled it, you might be better off selling it at a copart or iaai auction and using the proceeds towards a replacement car.

Absolutely sue the at-fault driver. You shouldn't have to pay for their recklessness. It is exactly what your insurance company would have done if you had full coverage. Even if they end up having to declare bankruptcy that will make their life harder and maybe they will at least think twice about breaking traffic laws in the future, especially running a red light which could injure/kill people.

[Silveradoss573]

My ride has been sitting since November and still has full coverage on it. Once we set up our policies on our cars/trucks we let them be. Not worth the risk from some sort of miscommunication or mistake on either party to try and "save" a few bucks. And some insurance companies look down on people changing their policies too often on the same car which could lead to a rate increase.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by cdrptrks

You could also look into rebuilding it to save money if you were planning to keep the car for a long time since you said the engine/transmission are still good but would need a different car to drive while waiting for that process to be completed. But since the insurance company totaled it, you might be better off selling it at a copart or iaai auction and using the proceeds towards a replacement car.

Given that the other driver was at fault and has no coverage, would the car actually get 'totaled' out? Wouldn't that only apply if there was a company that could cover repairs? I genuinely don't know...

Selling it an auction of some sort is potentially the way to recoup as much as possible since any reimbursement from an insurance company at this point is $0.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by Silveradoss573

My ride has been sitting since November and still has full coverage on it. Once we set up our policies on our cars/trucks we let them be. Not worth the risk from some sort of miscommunication or mistake on either party to try and "save" a few bucks. And some insurance companies look down on people changing their policies too often on the same car which could lead to a rate increase.

Yeah, similar situation here. I hadn't actually really thought about making the change, but I will definitely consider it going forward. And if the carrier wants to make a stink about changing coverage twice per year, then it will be time for a new carrier.

You should be, at a minimum, shopping your coverage to other companies every 1-2 years anyhow. They aren't loyal to you and will jack your rates -just- slowly enough that you won't want to deal with changes and leave it be.

[FarmerFran]

"uninsured

motorist coverage pays for injuries and damages caused by a driver who has no insurance at all,

[FlukeSS]

Originally Posted by ember1205

Yeah, similar situation here. I hadn't actually really thought about making the change, but I will definitely consider it going forward. And if the carrier wants to make a stink about changing coverage twice per year, then it will be time for a new carrier.

You should be, at a minimum, shopping your coverage to other companies every 1-2 years anyhow. They aren't loyal to you and will jack your rates -just- slowly enough that you won't want to deal with changes and leave it be.

I got lucky with my insurance, Between mother's car and mine we pay $230/month and that's for 100,000/300,000/100,000 full coverage. I still have other insurance companies contacting me for $400/month, I laugh in their face each and every time.