Auto Insurance Claims: car insurance, small claims court, vehicle owner

Question
My car was hit, and totaled. I only had liability.

the person that hit my car WAS at fault. They had liablilty, but the insurance and car was in his mom's name.

The insurance said they may not cover my loss because they said it(insurance) wasnt in his name. (the policy)

Can they do this? This sounds wrong to me.  I thought all that mattered was the car was insurared.

shouldnt i get my money, then if theres a problem, they sue him?

insurance was in oklahoma, accident in kansas.

thanks a million for any info.

Answer
John,

They may or may not be lying. It really does not matter since with liability insurance, it covers one against lawsuits. So in your case, go ahead and sue the driver and the vehicle owner in small claims court and represent yourself. If its over the small claims limit, then you will probably need a lawyer. I guarantee you that after the driver and vehicle owner get your notice of lawsuit, they will pressure their insurance company to cover your claim if there is coverage. As to the valuation of the vehicle, if the insurer does cover it, they will probably use CCC or ADP to value your vehicle, and it will probably be lowballed. To protect yourself against this, consider the Automobile Total Loss for Claimants eBook at UClaim.com.