QuestionHello,
I have a simple situation I hope that you can help me out with. I appreciate in earnest your willingness to do read onward.
I live in Georgia. A year and a half ago, I was involved in a very minor traffic accident. A person hit my vehicle from behind doing about 5 miles an hour. I did not receive a ticket stating I was at any fault for the accident's occurence. I do not know what the person who hit me received insofar as a ticket is concerned. I did not report any damage to my insurance company because my vehicle received no damage. The other person's front bumper had a very small scrape on it from where he hit me. I never heard anything from his auto insurance agency (State Farm).
Flash forward a year and a half...
Suddenly out of the blue State Farm has a collection agency called Bell Corporation calling me saying that they need my insurance information for the vehicle I was driving at the time. Apparently State Farm wishes to file a claim to pay for the "repairs" done to their client's vehicle, the one that hit me. Being suprised at all of this I asked the Bell Corporation agent to send me this request in writing to thoroughly review the claim.
What I got in the mail was a report stating that the client had had their entire front bumper, headlights, grill, hood, and fog lights replaced. Needless to say that is entirely ludicrous. The total bill comes to $1200. They also for some reason sent me the entire file from State Farm stating their client's name, address, vehicle information, policy number, just way too much information I would think.
I talked to Bell Corporation again and told them the claim was fraudulent. However, Bell refuted and now say that if I do not give them the insurance information for the vehicle I was driving at the time, then they will turn this over to "the state" and my license will be suspended and I will face criminal prosecution. They want either my insurance information or they want me to agree to pay the $1200 off straight.
Somehow this doesn't seem right to me. I think I am being bullied. I never received a traffic ticket stating I was at fault for the accident. I never had to give MY insurance information at the time to anyone State Farm representative or their client, and they never offered me theirs. I do not understand how I am at fault or how I should have to pay for this. I also did NOT receive any ticket for NOT having car insurance at the time because I did in fact have valid insurance.
My dilemma further is that in the year and a half since, I have sold that vehicle and changed insurance companies twice. I no longer -have- the insurance information for that vehicle from a year and a half ago... I had no idea State Farm would be calling me up so far gone out of the blue.
So my questions are...
Does State Farm / Bell Corporation really have a leg to stand on here? Or are they just trying to bully me into paying for something I don't have to?
What will happen if I tell Bell Corporation and State Farm that I am not responsible for this incident and that I will not be held financially accountable? Can they really get the state of Georgia involved despite the fact that the accident was so long ago? Would my license really be in jeapordy over this, or is this just a scam?
I thank you SINCERELY for any assistant or help or guidance you can offer in this manner.
Best regards,
Jack
AnswerDear Jack,
You need to turn this claim over to your old insurance company ASAP. If you delay any further, there is a chance your insurance could elect to disaffirm their duty under the contract inasmuch as each policy does have a duty clause that requires the insured to notify the company ASAP in the event of a claim.
You can get your banking records to figure out where you were paying your premiums.
As for the taking your license, it is my experience that the statutes dealing with driving without insurance have a time limit that has been exceeded. Call your state department of licensing and figure out how to get the information from the division that handles the financial responsibility law.
Do not give them your specifics, but just ask to be sure that I am correct: any request to use the state to enforce the financial responsibility laws is too late.
Yes, you can be sued, but NO, THERE IS NO CRIMINAL LIABILITY AT ALL. Driving without insurance is a traffic offense. Plus, 18 months is beyond the statute of limitations for misdemeanors and even gross misdemeanors have only 18 months in most states.
Finally, I do not understand the liability here at all. Why are YOU THE PARTY AT FAULT? Absent some unusual circumstance, you should not be the party at fault here: is should be just the reverse.
Best wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
www.SettlementCentral.Com
