QuestionQUESTION: My wife's car was involved in a multi-car accident where the driver of the car did damage to at least 3 cars while fleeing the police. The car is insured, but my wife's car has $6k in damage to it. We have a $500 deductible on comp & collision and $250 u/m deductible. How will this be handled by the insurance co.'s and what will we be on the hook for?
ANSWER: Hi Kevin,
You have not provided me enough information to answer this question.
Please send a follow-up question with your state of residence and full and complete information about this 'non-permissive' user and what situation caused him/her to be driving your car.
If you do not want this information available to anyone who reads these answers, then mark your follow-up as private.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area 5:32 PM PST
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: We live in Maryland. Basically, my wife's car (along with 3 others) were parked on the side of the street (the accident happened late in the evening). The "non-permissive" driver ran a red light, hit a car in the intersection and then skidded into three parked cars (my wife's included). The driver jumped out and ran from the police. He was eventually caught. I guess my question is if they are claiming "non permissive use" if this person had access to they keys to this car and had driven it with permission before (if this was in fact the case) how can the insured claim "non permissive" use?
AnswerHi Kevin,
Thanks for the additional information. Under Insurance Law, if a driver has previously been given permission to drive the car and knows where the keys are kept, then he has assumed permissive use and does not need to secure permission of the owner each time he drives the car. The only way that the owner and his insurance company can get off the hook is to charge the driver with theft, allow him to be prosecuted in court and he is actually convicted.
If that scenario plays out to such a conclusion, then you will have to have your own insurance company repair your car (less the applicable deductible).
Rather than waiting out this possible time delay, I suggest that you have your own company repair your wife's car now (less the deductible). This way, you will not have to suffer a long term loss of use of the car and when and if your company recovers from the adverse party's insurance, they will immediately reimburse your deductible.
I hope this answer has been of help. Please take a moment to rate my response.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area 10-20-07 9:58 AM PST
