I desperately need some help with a Car Insurance question! Help!?

Question

My daughter got her first car a couple of years ago. When I set her up with insurance, I asked for the same that I raised mine too which was $500,000ea person and there's a max of $500,000 ea accident. She's 20yrs old now, and apparently got in an accident and is being sued and our insur company didn't set her up with the $500,000 like I asked but with only $25,000ea person/$50,000 ea accident. They made a huge error! Do I have any recourse at all??? We have absolutely no money to hire an attorney to battle with our own insur company over this. Help!!!!

Answer 1

Sadly, probably not. After you set up your daughter on your insurance you probably got something in the mail that had the new coverage and new rate, and if you missed their error there and didn't notify them, you accepted whatever was on the form.

You would also get a new policy rider whenever it came up for renewal, typically every 6 months, so you have had many chances over "a couple of years" to catch the error.

It;s a little like asking for a bag of oranges at the fruit stand, if they hand you a bag of apples, and you pay and leave with them, it's on you.

Answer 2

Do you have something in writing that acknowledged that you requested the coverages mentioned in your question? If you did, you will have to look to see if they issued a policy with coverages other than what was requested, and that they sent some sort of notification stating that the policy was issued with coverages other than what was requested and the reason why (if you don't have anything in writing confirming the coverages requested, then you will be out of luck). Even still since the change occurred a few years ago, the policy has renewed at least once maybe even a few times, and you may be out of luck since any judge would expect a reasonable person to review their policy on renewal. You can try and claim your broker/agent (or the company if it is a direct writer) didn't highlight the fact that the renewal policy's coverages were different from the previous policy, although this may be a long shot. Of course if they did send any sort of notification highlighting these differences, and you didn't respond to this letter, then you would be out of luck.

Answer 3

This is called a coverage investigation, and your insurance company should be doing this--as long as you told your adjuster what you stated here.

If you asked your agent to make the changes, and he failed to do so, this would be covered under your agents E & O insurance that they carry (Errors & Omissions). If your agent lies and says "that never happened," it's your word against theirs and your company will side with the agent....unless you can prove otherwise.

If you called in on an 800#, those calls are recorded and the adjuster should be able to pull a copy of the recording--you have to tell them the exact day/time you called in as well as who you spoke with.

Or, you can file a complain with the DOI.

Are you sure your daughter is being sued? Has she been served with papers that state "you are being sued?" If she hasn't, then she's not being sued. If she got a letter from the claimants attorney, no biggie.....all it means is they are attorney rep'd and your insurance company will deal with them. The attorney will at some point know what the limits of the policy are and they'll settle within those limits....so long as your adjuster responds to his demand for settlement according to the terms set forth in the demand, so long as the attorney isn't trying to setup your insurance company (terms of the demand are completely unreasonable and unrealistic), so long as the lid on your policy isn't blown to bits as a result of the 1st two.

Answer 4

hate to say this,,but you're probably out of luck.

They're not liable for what you did not buy & pay for.

And even though you "ordered" the extra coverage and any Ins Agent woulda loved the extra biz & shoulda jumped on it.....
Them not writing the extra coverage is a "harmless oversight" on their part.

It's incumbent upon You to verify that you have the amount of coverage you desire.
And,,,You've had what sounds like 2 Years to verify the level of your coverage?

Even if you had the $$$,,no ethical attorney would take your case against your ins carrier---because you really dont have a case.

I hope I'm not coming across harsh sounding towards you.
I dont mean to.
And I DO indeed understand your position ,,and sympathize.

But I seriously doubt you have any recourse against someone NOT raising the coverage as you requested.
Especially not after the amount of time that's transpired.

If You have PAID for the extra coverage,,,of course that would be another matter.
But even in that case,,Coverage can be cancelled,or modified at any time.

Insurnace's >Business < is to Sell You Coverage.
Their JOB,,is to not pay claims against policies they have in force.

A person really should stay very aware of their insurnace policies & coverages THEMSELVES.

Myself,,I Shop for insurance like I buy Bread & Milk----OFTEN & Regularly.

I've learned over the years to have ZERO loyalty as an insurance customer.
In fact,,I'm not even a customer.
I'm "just a buyer".

Insurance is a Financial Matter,,,they're about MONEY and nothing else.
Anything beyond that is merely part of the "sales pitch".

Wish I had better advice for you.
But I'm fairly certain you're stuck with the situation as-is .

SOME STATES limit liability to coverage-in-force,,,if it meets a State Minimum.
You may check into that???
I hesitate to even mention that,,,the suggestion may be more of a "tease" than any actual hope.
It's at least worth finding out about.

Another "straw to grasp at",,,,find out how court judgements are handled.
If she does get sued,,and does lose her case,,,,they cannot put her in "debtor's prison".
Most states will limit unpayable awards to simply a Lien or Judgement being filed.
And there's usually a Renewability provision,,,but also a Limit on How Long the thing can last.
Each state's different.

Even a "Lost Case" may not be so terrible for her in reality,,in terms of what it actually DOES.

Best Wishes,,I hope it all works out OK

Answer 5

You should have noticed the error two years ago and corrected it at that time, you are out of luck now. I would try and cut a deal with the person she had the accident with, your insurance company is free and clear on this one.

Answer 6

till you signal the pink slip (possession archives) over to them, you need to nonetheless be held dependable in the type of an twist of destiny. You mom in regulation is smart because in the adventure that they are driving the vehicle and characteristic an twist of destiny and no insurance, you get stuck with the bill. do not supply them the vehicle till you're paid and characteristic the identify transferred or a minimum of knowledge of insurance.. also, make certain you tell the DMV that you do not personal the vehicle any more beneficial, or you'll get stuck for tickets, injuries, and such. maximum insurance businesses will cover 2 vehicles for some days once you're shifting one to the different, yet you need to call your agent and enable them understand what is going on.

Answer 7

Insurance companies have people "claiming" to have certain things on their policy all the time that they dont (im NOT saying you did this.. it just helps explain what im gonna say). Therefore generally they record ALL CALLS (agents as well) Ask them to pls check their records for your call and that should help clear thigns up.

Answer 8

Well if you were paying the same premas your car yes. If for your daughter it was a cheeper prem then no.
Ok lest say that your prem was 300 a mounth and with your daughters it was also 300 So for each mounth you payes 600 for the same coverage. Then yes they made the mistake and you were paying for the better coverage.

But lets say your prem was 300 and with your daugther is was only 200 making the prem 500. then no, you were given a deal for less coverage on her and were not paying for the better coverage.

Answer 9

i own a repair shop,and you should have been given a copy of the changes that was made to the policy,the would have been mailed to you,if not its basically your word against there's that this ever took place,your going to have to come up with some kind of a paper showing proof that the request to have this don't actually took place,if not ,a lawyer would have a hard time handling this one,good luck,i hope this help,s.