Expert: Anne - 2/20/2008

Question
so i was involved in a accident where i was rear ended at a intersection because a guy had his dog in his car and did not see that the traffic was stopped in font of him and hit me doing at least 25 mph and i was at a dead stop! so come to find out now my licence was susspended since the 11th due to recieving 4 or traffic tickets so the accident occured on the 16th! But i was driving my girlfriends car which has full coverage and was hit by a car with full coverage and i had two passengers who where all injured and me and another are already in physical theropy and it has only been 4 days since the accident! i was told i had muscle spasms in my back and she has whiplash syndrome and many other injurys for all of us! oh by the way i also have my own vehical and i have my own ins also just a suspended licence that i did not know about because of change of address! is this going to affect me their was no cops at the seign to sight me and neither ins company have a idea it is suspended? their ins has already agreed to paying 100% damages and medical and want to meet with all of us ! what do i do and can i get in trouble for the suspended licence?

Answer
Chris Relax,

On the facts that you gave me, it would appear that you are not at fault. You did not cause the accident as you were stop and then hit. There is no question that you did something wrong (not having a license), but other than getting a ticket for driving in a suspended license (if the cops figure that out).

There might be some issues with your own insurance company. They do not want you to be driving without a license. They might require you to get a license before giving you another policy or even drop you until you get your license re instated.

The second possible issue is that some insurance companies exclude coverage if the driver of the car has "no valid driver license". This could happen but this type of exclusion is in the minority of policies. However, it could be on your policy.

In this situation, you are strongly encourage to talk to an attorney. They can assist better and they will be able to see the entire case with all relevant facts.

Good Luck,
Anne
http://www.spokanelegalhelp.com