Expert: Anne - 9/22/2009

Question
My daughter who is 26 was behind on her insurance premium, it was due on 8-12-09. On 9-12-09 her boyfriend took her car without her permission while she was asleep at 2am in the morning, hit another car and totalled her car. My daughter made a payment over the phone the morning of 9-12-09 which was accepted then turned in the wreck. The insurance co. is denying the claim now. Can they do that if she made the payment on the 30 day mark? Thank you.

Answer
Hello Terry,

A coverage investigation must be done. It's hard to answer your question without the specific language of the policy.

There are however a lot of issues here.

1. The payment: If the payment was accepted before the accident occurred, then there should be coverage. If however, the payment was post the accident, it is likely that coverage cannot be granted.

2. Even if there was coverage, if the boyfriend took the car without permission, there might still not be coverage. Non permissive drivers are usually not covered by insurance, thus, a coverage investigation must be done to see if he was a non permissive driver (there could be implied permission - it depends on your state law).

For more information, please see:

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/ for more about claims

Good Luck
Anne
http://www.quirogalawoffice.com/