Steal Your Own Car?

Question

Okay, here is the deal.

Person A Paid and has paperwork to prove he/she is the owner of a car, the insurance is under person B's Name.
(Only person B is listed in the insurance. Don't ask don't tell)

Person A & B are sour at each other and Person B threatened that if the car was taken for a drive he/she would call in the fuzz and report the car stolen. Can Person B realy do this? Can the owner of the carget busted for car theft if he/she takes the car for a drive on a car he/she owns?

*Person A can't drive so it was insured under Person B's name. Person B was going to drive Person A around for working purposes.
Person A got a new driver to do the job person B needs to wait till some papers are mailed in before the car's insurance and crud is changed. Person A can't wait for this and needs to utilize the car daily.

Answer 1

How did "person B" get car insurance on a car that is not in their name? I think that both person a and person b better watch out b/c this is insurance fraud. Anyway, person a would not get arrested for driving a car that is licensed in their name - doesn't matter whose name the insurance is in; however, they may get in trouble for not having VALID insurance on the car. I'm betting that if the car was in an accident, the insurance company would not cover the damages because the car was not titled in the insureds name.

Answer 2

Only Person A has any legal right to the car and "has the paperwork to prove ownership." If Person B called in to report a theft of a vehicle that Person A owns, and it is not stolen by someone other than Person A, then Person B has violated the law and can be held accountable to the law. In other words, if Person B knowingly reports a theft of a vehicle that is not stolen, Person B will get in trouble with the police, not Person A.

The insurance for Person A is a separate issue. The law requires that the driver of the car be insured. Person A can only get into trouble with the police if Person A is caught driving the car without insurance. Not for stealing a car that legally belongs to him/her.

EDIT on 7/15/07:
Person A can receive insurance effective immediately that covers Person A and anyone Person A designates. Person A does not need to carry the paperwork, as long as the insurance company agrees. (They would know if the state laws allow you to drive without the paperwork on hand.)

I have done this in Georgia. I called for insurance for a motorcycle, payed for it over the phone, and drove my motorcycle the same day. I received the paperwork 2 weeks later. Unbelievably my motorcycle was stolen a week later, before I received the paperwork. I had no problem with law enforcement officers regarding the unfortunate situation. My insurance company was also very helpful.

Answer 3

As others have stated above, the person who the car in which the name is legally titled is the only one that has legal rights to the car; however, insurance is not irrelavant to the big picture, just in the case of who can claim the car is "stolen".

A the insurance in in Person "B"'s name, they have every right to call and cancel the policy immediately, can call the police and indicate that Person "A'' is driving without insurance and the person driving Person "A"'s car and Person "A' could be issued a ticket and or face criminal charges. Worse yet, if Person "B" cancels the insurance and there would be an accident, Person A would be cited at fault (even if someone else hit the car) and be responsible for all damages and medical bills.

Places like Progressive.com and E-surance have where a person can get a policy online, pay the full 6 mo premium or a downpayment with monthly payments and print off a card. This is something Person "A" should explore at once.

Answer 4

The only person who can report a car stolen is the legal owner of the vehicle. Insurance is not ownership. If your name is either on the title and the registration then you own the vehicle.

Answer 5

The insurance is irrelevant.

But before I say "The owner of the car can not steal his own car," I would ask how is it that the non-owner is in possession of the car? Did the owner agree to loan it to him? For how long? Perhaps there is a verbal contract here, and the owner is breaking the contract.