Expert: Anne - 9/17/2009

Question
I had an accident in my daughter's car.  She lives in NJ, and I in PA  I hit someone at the light.  No police were called. The acciden tis my fault.  I have Nationwide, and my daughter had $1 per day insuranc, which only covers medical emergencies. However, I found out that since it was out of state where the accident occured, they can may the minimum. I was not a driver on her policy.  Now I gave the person I hit 250 to meet their deductible, with a signed statement, hoping this would go away, a week later when we both found out the type of insurance my daughter had.  Now  I am being sued by his insurance company for 1800, hs refuses to give me back my 250, my daughter does not answer my calls. The guy's insurance company finally spoke w/my daughter's company Praetorian, which just called me accusing me of not assisting them in getting in touch with my daughter and telling me they will not pay because they can not get a statement from her that I was driving her car.  My insurance would pay if I could get a declaration page stating that Praetorian would not pay.

Answer
Hello ALC,

Yes, her insurance will have to have her statement that you were a permissive driver and that the accident happened the way you describe it. It's a hard position if your daughter does not answer as they must talk to the policy holder before issuing any payment.

The insurance company will want to hold this over your head until they talk to her. If she declines to talk to them for a extended period of time, they can deny coverage by her failure to cooperate.

For more information about recorded statements, please see:

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/Recorded-Statement.html

At this point, you really need to have her talk to the insurance company. If she does not, then you will probably have to pay (and she may also have to pay as the owner of the car).

If she does talk to the insurance company, they might pay give you credit for the $250.

I hope this helps,

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