Auto Insurance Claims: Little sister hit my car, sister state, liability claim

Question
Good morning... I just recently moved back to my mothers house for a few months until my boyfriend gets out of the service. Two weeks after I moved back in, my younger sister backed into my car while it was parked in the driveway. She is on my mom's insurance policy still, but I have my own policy's. I kept my renters b/c all me belongings are in storage, plus my car and life insurance. My mom has used the same state farm agent for about 28 years (accident and incident free). I have used them for 12 (accident and incident free). They are refusing to pay for the damages on my sisters liability. They are wanting me to file the claim under my policy. They say that we are resident relatives and that an incident like this is an exception to the liability. So in turns I am being forced to pay my deductible when I had no part in the accident. I was in bed asleep when it happened. Is this right? Doesn't seem right to me. If she would have hit my brothers car they would have paid the liability b/c he lives down the street and not at the same house. Please advise.

Answer
Hi Lisa,

This is not to be considered legal advice.

This is absolutely rediculous. This would be true if all of the cars were insured on the same policy or if the parties involved were husband and wife. But since they are 2 seperate policies and because your sister can be held to be legally liable for damage she caused to your property, State farm is obligated to pay this as a liability claim. The situation they are referring to only applies to a husband and wife, which are considered to be a single entity and you can be held legally liable to yourself. You will likely need to request to speak to a claims manager and explain this to them and hopefully they will understand. If they still give you a hard time, tell them that you will have no choice then but to file a law suite against your sister. Then when the judge awards you a judgement for the damage against your sister, State farm will have to pay anyway and they will have had to spend money on an attorney to defend your sister against the law suit.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh