Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 3/28/2011

Question
Hi,

about 4 years ago I had an accident. I did not receive a report from the officer and not a ticket. As far as I know, I was not found by the officer to be at fault.
After the accident, I did not fix my car, and just sold it. I never heard anything regarding the accident from the other party or from my insurance company, until now, 4 years later.

I will note that after the accident, I leased a new car and got insurance for it and no one said a thing. Now, when I want to switch company or add a new driver to my policy, they say I had a claim and It was my fault.

What can I do to get the insurance company to remove the claim or note that it was not my fault?
I never even knew there was a claim against me. Wasn't I supposed to be notified? asked if I agree for the compensations they were asking for?
Can I sue the insurance for not contacting me?

I live in Ontario, Canada.

Thank you,
Ben

Answer
Hi Ben,

All of my experience is in the US. There may be significant differences in the way insurance and the laws that govern it are applied between the US and Canada.

I would contact the insurance company you had at the time of the incident and ask then to provide you with the specifics of who filed a claim, what was it for, how much was paid, etc..

Now that it has been so long since the incident, I do not know what you can do about any of it. I am also not sure of how this would affect your current insurance. In the US, only incidents within the past 3 years are held against you. It may be different in Canada.

If you have further questions, you would need to ask someone who has specific knowledge of Canadian insurance practices or you may contact the Canada Insurance Regulator.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh