Expert: Anne - 5/31/2010

Question
I was in an accident and the person responsible was driving a rental car. She denied having insurance to my insurance company a month later. 11 months after the accident State Farm calls and wants to talk about settlement. Claiming that she has coverage under her dad. The accident happened in Missouri and she is from Arkansas. I take it she never told her parents about the accident and the ticket she received from running a red light and causing an accident showed up somewhere on her parents insurance premium. So her dad filed a claim with State Farm! I would like to know what I am entitled to because of her untruthfulness and lack of coordination from various insurance companies. Thank you!

Answer
Hello Antione,

Probably not. You are lucky she has coverage at all and her dad filed the claim. Unfortunately, inconvenience is not compensable damage. Bad faith is an action against an insurance company, and usually, your own insurance company for negligent actions and failure to protect the fiduciary duty to protect your interest (not hiring a lawyer, or not settling a claim within policy limits, thus, avoiding a lawsuit against you).

Since she has no fiduciary duty to you, it's unlikely you can make a bad faith claim against here.

You would be entitled to other damages if you were injured, please see:


http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/bodily-injury-claim.html

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