QuestionQUESTION: i got into an accident last night at 1am, i dosed off( very tired) and side swiped another truck, it left a scratch and dent along his door and front fender about a foot to a foot and a half long.
we pulled over and he phoned the police, the police came and wrote up a report i only had an old( and expired insurance card)
about a month or two ago i put my vehicle under my grandmothers name to have insurance under her. i thought everything would be fine last night and i had insurance. I phoned my grandmother today and turns out she was unable to insure me. So at the time of the accident I was uniinsured. the officer wrote me a ticket for no motor vehicle insurance because i did not have a current card. i know have a court date set.
my question is first: what will happen if i get insured today or tommorow ( the day after the accident, monday) will the court possibly waive the high fee of no insurance since i acted in a timely manner of when i obtained insurance after getting the ticket.
secondly since i did not have insurance and im almost positive the person i hit had full coverage what will happen with that? will his insurance cover him since i did not have insurance, and will the insurance company then come after me?
this is all in honolulu, hawaii by the way
ANSWER: Hi Jerry,
I'm sorry to hear of your predicament.
You need to immediately re-register the vehicle back in your name and secure insurance.
Even though you didn't have insurance at the time of the accident, most courts will reduce the fine if you show them proof that you have insurance when you appear for your court date.
There still exists the problem of the damage to the truck that you hit.
The BIG problem is that the vehicle that you were driving is registered to your grandmother.
If the owner of the truck has his own insurance company repair his damages, they will then file a suit to collect the amount of damage from your grandmother, since she is the registered owner of the car.
If the driver of the truck seeks medical treatment, he will file a claim against your grandmother.
You need to contact the owner/driver of the truck and try to get this financially settled before any suits are filed against your grandmother.
Hopefully, the driver didn't seek any medical treatment and you can get this settled by paying the owner for the damages.
When you pay the owner for the damages, you need to get a 'release of all claims for property damage' signed by the owner.
You also need to get a 'release of all claims for bodily injury' signed by the driver and all occupants of the truck. Otherwise, they have up to two years to file a lawsuit against your grandmother.
You can usually find these forms for sale at your local court house.
If they are not available there, Nolo Press publishes a book that contains these forms and you can find the book at any large bookstore.
I hope that you find this information to be useful.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: The driver suffered no injury, he also stated this to the police officer.
If I am able to re register the vehicle under my name again and contact him, and his insurance company will it be possible to have the liability shifted to me so my grandmother is not in debt for this? I dont have the amount to pay for the repairs but would I possibly be able to negotiate with his insurance company for some kind of monthly payment?
AnswerHi Jerry,
Re-registering the vehicle does not shift the liability because the accident happened while the vehicle was in your grandmothers name.
By contacting the owner before he makes a report to his insurance company, you should be able to work out a monthly payment plan with him and he should be willing to sign the damage and injury releases as soon as you sign a pay back agreement.
Even though he stated to the police officer that he was not injured, you still need to get a release for bodily injury in order to protect your grandmother.
Please write me again if you feel that I can be of more assistance.
Sincerely,
Bennie
