What do I do if a friend wrecks my car?

Question

Friday a friend of my husband and I borrowed our Mustang. Well my husband let him borrow it, I was at work. Anyway, Our FRIEND wrecked and totaled our car along with hitting two parked cars. (He was speeding on a wet road). We have full coverage and the car is paid for. What happens next. I would call my insurance today but being labor day they are closed and I need some advice today. Besides getting pissed which I already have.

How will this affect our insurance? Can he turn it in on his insurance (I was told he might be able to). Also, I was told that if you have full coverage the insurance takes your car if it is totaled. I thought the latter happened only if the car wasn't paid for. I don't know. PLEASE some one help me with some good sensible answers!!!

Answer 1

If he was driving with permission, the accident will be covered under YOUR policy (insurance follows cars, not people). You should report it first thing tomorrow (not sure who your carrier is but some of the insurance call centers are open on the holidays). Your liability coverage will pay for the parked cars, and your collision will pay for your damages, less your deductible. If it's a total loss then the adjuster will negotiate that settlement with you. If it is totaled, yes, the insurance company pays you the actual cash value of your vehicle and you sign over the title to them. If you have a lienholder then hopefully they will be offering enough to pay off the lien at least. Specifics will have to be discussed with your insurance company.

If your friends has auto insurance of his own, and the damages to the parked cars are more than you carry insurance for (let's say your PD limit is 10k, and the cars are 12k total) then his insurance becomes excess and would pay the rest up to his limit. But that's the only time that his insurance comes into play.

If this is a one time lending loss your rates will probably not be affected. That all depends on the state and the insurance company, but this was not an accident that resulted from your negligence, so you might get a freebie.

Answer 2

This is YOUR car. Nobody can take it away from you if you don't want them to. Often an insurance company will handle the "salvage" (wrecked car) for you, but it's a courtesy, not their "job" or "right".

Your insurance is a financial device, nothing more. The terms of how much they pay and what they do is in the contract. It's called a "policy", but it's nothing more than a contract that you agreed to.

Your insurance is primary, the friend's insurance is "excess". The only circumstances under which his insurance would pay are:
1. There was no permissive use. (but it sounds like there was)
2. You have a "stated amount" that sets a maximum for how much the policy will pay to repair your car. (his insurance would pay the difference)
3. There was a problem with your insurance, (non-payment of premium, excluded driver, etc.)

Your insurer is not required to pay any more than what your car is worth on the private sellers market. (not what a used car dealer would get). I know, it sucks, but that's the deal.

If you have rental car coverage, there's usually a limit, and it's what you chose when you bought the insurance. Your friend's insurance may make up the difference between what your insurance pays and the actual cost incurred, but don't count on it.

Your rental coverage ends a day or two after they pay a total loss, or, if the car is repairable, when the repairs are completed.

Answer 3

Well, first off, your insurance company has a 24 hour claim number. Call it. It's in your policy paperwork somewhere. Your agent's office may be closed, but the insurance company's claims office isn't.

If your friend has full coverage on a vehicle that he owns it might cover your vehicle. He'll need to contact his insurance company to find out. (If he refuses to do this, he's NOT a friend, but a user. That's another problem you'll have to deal with.)

If he doesn't have insurance or his insurance does not cover a borrowed vehicle then your only option is to file with your insurance company. This will affect your rates in most cases; nothing you can do about that. Your friend will owe you whatever the deductible is. If he doesn't ante up, you'll have to take him to small claims court.

If your "friend" plays coy with the status of his insurance, your insurance company may be able to help with that. They'll probably go after him for payment of the damages to your car and the parked cars. This is usually a ploy to expose another insurance company that may be responsible. If he does have insurance coverage, his company will pay all costs, including your deductible. And your rates will not be affected either. This would be your best possible outcome.

If you have collision coverage and your car is totalled, the insurance company will pay you fair market value for your car. Standard procedure is that they will take title to the vehicle and dispose of it. Most insurance companies will sell it back to you if you wish for the salvage value, typically a few hundred dollars. It will be up to your to get it towed back to your property. Most states require that a salvage or junk title be issued when they sell it back to you.

BTW, no matter what the car looks like right now, it's not totalled until the insurance company says it is. So hold off on that until they get an adjuster out to look at the car.

Lastly, don't let this get to you. It's just a piece of hardware. It can be repaired or replaced. It's an inconvenience, not a disaster. Be thankful that nobody was killed or seriously injured.

Answer 4

This is an At Fault loss, however, as neither you nor your husband was driving at the time, your rates should be ok (unless he was under the influence at the time of the loss). As you own the vehicle, your Insurance is primary on this, and his insurance would be considered secondary if the damages caused to the other vehicles exceeds your limits.
Depending on the state you are in, the Insurance company does not have to take possession of your vehicle, they can "sell you back the salvage" and deduct this amount from your settlement. I would have your "Friend" pay you back your deductible amount as he totaled the car by playing speed racer on a wet road.
Keep in mind that if the Insurance co lets you keep the car, depending on what state you are in, you will have to get a salvage title, fix the car, then take it in for inspection and the vehicle will have a REBUILT title, and if you ever sell this car with the branded title, it will be considered worth less than a non-branded title.

Answer 5

The insurance always follows the car, so you are responsible for all damages. Since your driver sounds at fault, you should notify your carrier ASAP. Its ok to wait after the holiday as long as you notify them in a reasonable amount of time. Your rates may go up depending on the carrier. Some allow a free accident. Your collision coverage wil pay for your car. You will get the actual cash value. It doesnt matter if its paid for or not. But if you owe more than the car is worth, you will make up the difference.

Answer 6

Your friend needs to file against his insurance. This will be the better way as it won't make your rates go up. Don't contact your insurance company unless you have to.

If you were to let your insurance company know first, they will take care of the paperwork (by contacting his insurance company, which you could do yourself) and they WILL raise your rates (this comes from my personal experience with the Gekko, who I no longer choose to have insurance with for that very reason). I was in a wreck, the other driver was cited with the accident, I called my ins co, just to ask them what I was supposed to do (I'd never been in a wreck before). They told me to contact the other guys insurance company and they STILL raised my rates because I was involved in a wreck. My insurance company did not have to pay out a dime, or do anything, but they still raised my rates. Fair, no. The way it is, yes.

If his insurance refuses to pay, then file with your insurance company. They will pay the claim, then your insurance company will go after your friend and his insurance company for reimbursement (usually as a lawsuit that they file, you won't be involved, they handle it).

To answer your other question, if an insurance company totals a car, and they pay you for the car, it belongs to the insurance company (in effect they "bought" it from you). It's rare that you get to keep the car, usually they take it and resell it at auction.

I hope these answers help. Good luck to you.

Answer 7

I'd contact my insurance company and ask him to contact his, depending on the type of coverage he has, his insurance may step in and take care of it. If he totaled your car then one of the options if you want to still keep your car is to offer to buy it back from the insurance company. Usually when the insurance company pays for the damages they pay the owner for the book value of the vehicle. I've had 2 wrecks in which neither were my fault but both cars were totaled and I told the adjustor I wanted to retain ownership of my car so I actually took a lesser amount and kept my car.

Answer 8

The insurance company, being the vile cut-throats that they are will probably try to get out of paying for it because he was not on the insurance policy. If the driver (friend) has insurance on his car he should be the one to file...anyway..its not going to be pleasant...learn a lesson...never let a friend borrow anything ! They never respect it ...Lotsa Luck !

Answer 9

as long as the police were called, you are probably covered. You gave permission for your vehicle to be used. It will probably increase your insurance rates, and you will have to pay your deductible. Your rates may go up as a result of the accident--especially if you have an "accident-free" policy. if you don't have a police report you are screwed.
i would try to contact the insurance company anyway. maybe they have a toll-free number, if you're in a small town, they may have an emergency number posted on their door.
One time my son drove someone else's vehicle and hit another car. The owner of the vehicle was responsible for his car and my son was responsible for the vehicle that was hit.

Answer 10

Regardless of what you want to do you are going to have to tell your insurance company about the accident particularly if your car damaged other cars or a police report is involved. You are going to want him to take responsibility for fixing the parked cars and his injuries. Otherwise your insurance company is going to pay everything then file against his insurance company or him to get their money back.
Who's information(proof of insurance) did he give?
You want to file on his first.......