What happens if you are at fault in an accident and you don't have insurance?

Question

As it turns out my boyfriend took me off his insurance in 2004 and didn't tell me (he forged my signature on the paperwork). I only found out about it when I got into a fender bender last week (my fault) and left a slight dent on a woman's car. Well, imagine my suprise when the insurance agent told me my bf took me off the policy and then the agent emailed me the exclusion document with "my signature" which was obviously my bf's handwriting. What will happen to me now? Thanks for any info you can give.

We are both on the title and the insurance is now in his name. I just never thought to look at the insurance card. Our agreement was always that I take care of everything to do with the house and he takes care of the cars. There was no damage to my car and a slight dent on the woman's car - I was backing up going approximately 2 miles per hour. Thanks again.

Answer 1

If he excluded you from the policy, (some states have an endorsement and that is different from having you dropped as a driver) then your signature is not needed on any form. Most named driver exclusions only have to be signed by the named insured. I would challenge that though, because if you are the registered owner of that vehicle, there is no way that you would NOT be driving the vehicle. If coverage is denied by the insurance company because of the exclusion then the damage to the other person's vehicle and yours will not be paid by the company. The other person will go to his own insurance and they may expect reimbursement from you. Be prepared for that.

You should get the matter of coverage for yourself straightened out. If you're excluded that means he is not supposed to let you drive the car and if there are any other accidents they won't be covered either. If it's an issue about your signature being on any forms you don't remember signing, ask the company to prepare an Affidavit of Forgery if that will make a difference.

Ask the person the claim gets assigned to all this stuff, because agents sell policies, they are not claims adjusters. They don't have a vast coverage knowledge. Maybe the agent just was saying you were taken off the policy as a driver. If that's the case then you're not in dire straights because if you were a permissive user (and how could you not be if you own the vehicle) then you should still be covered. But get to the bottom of it. Good luck!

Answer 2

I am confused. Is the car under your boyfriends name? If so and the insurance is under his name and still an active policy you should be fine even if you are not listed as a driver. If the policy was under your name and he forged a document under your name cancelling the policy then yes you are screwed. You will have to pay for everything out of pocket. Not sure if the cops were involved or not but if they were and they know you have no insurance that will be reported, you will get a big ticket and that will cause you to have insurance points which in turn increase your insurance rates. You may also get a suspended license

Ok - you should be fine. You're not a covered driver but the car WAS insured. Anyone is allowed to drive your vehicle. Obviously if its on a daily basis all year around you need to be listed as a driver. But if its here and there its not necessary. You are ok - there is insurance on the car

Answer 3

Here's what usually occurs...the other driver's insurance likely would cover her loss if you are determined to be uninsured (you will get a ticket and a fine for that)...however, her company isn't going to want to pay it unless they have to...so they will first go after your boyfriend's insurance because it's his car(I assume it was his car you were driving), and failing at that, try to come after you.

If it was your own car and not his that you were driving, then they will go after you alone for the damages.

Unless you can conclusively prove that the signature's forged, his insurance company is going to say it's your baby. You really are hanging in the breeze on this one,and your BF isn't much of a BF if he's going to let you hang, given what you've said about him.

Frankly, since he is the policy holder, my understanding (at least in my state) is that it only takes a phone call to drop someone from a policy as a secondary driver, not a signed exclusion document. (Unless you were listed as a co-holder of the policy...you weren't clear on that.)

My understanding is...If the policy is billed to him and him alone, it's his, and you were considered merely a secondary driver. If it was billed to both of you jointly, then it was a joint policy and then you could try to say the sig was forged, etc., but the bottom line is you're likely going to be paying the other lady's damages. They will likely say that you are just claiming the forged signature to try to weasel out of paying for the repairs. Face it... it sounds pretty lame that you didn't know about not being insured for 2 years.

All of this is not including any side issues you will have for being caught driving without insurance (fine, ticket, etc).

I'd suggest consulting a lawyer on this whole situation to see what options you have.

I hope this wasn't too confusing. Good Luck

Answer 4

In most cases what will happen is that her insurance company will come after you. Once all the repairs are done the insurance company has the right to sue you, and 99.9% of the time the insurance company is always awarded judgment.

My suggestion to you is to contact an attorney immediately. If your boyfriend had forged your signature on the paper work, he will liable for fraud. But the attorney or judge may ask how you were unaware of not being on the insurance policy, since you should carry your insurance card with you or have it in your vehicle.

Answer 5

You have to talk to your boy friend together with the lawyer for what he had done to you and the car insurance. Normally when you have an accident the Insurance will repair the damage of the other car. but now you don't have it anymore, you're the one who will pay fot it or your the one who will repair. Maybe you can ask the woman if she could let you fix the damage on her car of your the one who will look for the repair shop. You can also ask your boyfriend to help you in that case.

Answer 6

a small ding shouldn't cost more than a few hundered $, offer to pay expenses to avoid court, if it comes to court you are liable. If your bf only removed you and not the whole car there is coverage for the other person with you "borrowing" the car
if you want to pursue it, your bf can be held accountable for forgery.
The insurance co should have notified your finance co when cov. was dropped, they would have started sending nasty letters then. sometimes they buy insurance for the car and tack it onto the note of the car, one ray of hope

Answer 7

Step #1: pay the damages.
Step #2: make your 'boyfriend' buy the car from you or force him to sell it and split the money. While you're at it, consult a lawyer about signature fraud -- he can spend time in orange coveralls for this as it is a FEDERAL crime.
Step #3: get a new boyfriend.

Answer 8

The only thing you can do is talk to the victim and see if you guys can work something out. Most likely, they'll ask you to pay cash out-of-pocket for the cost of the repairs. Sometimes, they will even increase the cost so they'll get more money and you can't say "no" because you have no insurance/choice.

Answer 9

Two things:

Talk to your insurance's fraud department and let them know - if they find out the signature was forged then they could backdate the claim, but they would also dropped the insurance policy within x amount of days.

Or since technically, you had no insurance - you can pay for it out of your own pocket.

Answer 10

I believe that you are still liable for the damages. Ignorance is no excuse. I would still look into that thing with the illegal forging of your signature on the document. No matter what thought, it looks like your going to have to pay.