I can't afford to pay an insurance company for damages. What can they do??

Question

I had a dune buggy fall off a trailor I was towing and a lady ran into it. It caused quite a bit of damage to her car. My insurance company denied the claim so it wasnt covered. Now her insurance company is coming after me for the damages. It near $10,000. I am a single mom and can't afford to make any kind of monthy payment or anything ...... I have nothing!! What can they do to me for not paying??

Answer 1

The first thing to do is get with your agent and see if he/she can help you understand why the claim was denied. (If you did not pay your premium and your policy was canceled - not much you can do). But it can't hurt to get your agents help.

If it was a denial of liability (ie - your company said you are not legally responsible for the other ladies damage but your policy was in force) - then the ladies insurance company should fight it out with your company. Again - talk to your agent.

The other insurance company can turn you over to collections or pursue legal action against you. They can also have your drivers license suspended.

The best thing to do is to call them up and work out a payment plan. Offer to send them 50-100 per month until the debt is paid. They will set the payment plan up - interest free. As long as you send in your payments - on time - each month - they will not take any further action against you (and will reinstate your drivers license if they had it suspended). If you miss a payment or stop paying- then they will take legal action.

Another possibility (if you have money) is to offer to settle with them for a reduced amount (lump sum). If they say you owe them 10,000 - offer to pay them 5,000 in one payment or 2 payments of 2500 each. They would rather get a reduced amount as a lump sum rather than 100 a month for the entire amount. Therefore, if you can come up with a lump sum they would rather have that bird in hand now and will settle for a reduced amount

Answer 2

A lot depends on the state in which you live. I would be interested in knowing why your insurance company refused to pay the claim. Was it because they felt you weren't negligent or were they denying coverage. There is a good possibility that you will be sued for the lady's damages. If that happens and you receive suit papers, give them to your insurance company (I know you said they denied the claim but give them a copy of the papers anyway. Unless there is no coverage, the State may require that they provide a defense for you). If your insurer didn't pay the claim because there was no coverage in force, you will need to go to court. If the judge decides you are legally liable for the damage (could the other driver have avoided hitting the dune buggy?), you will be found guilty and the court will decide on what the damages are. If you have no assets and no income, they won't take your home or your car in most cases. They won't leave you completely destitute and they won't send you to jail--this is a civil action; not a criminal action. You may have to declare bankruptcy. As the saying goes, "you can't get blood out of a turnip." If you haven't got it and have no way of getting it, there isn't much of anything they can really do to you. It is possible, if you live in a mandatory insurance state and you weren't covered by insurance at the time of the loss, the state could revoke your driving privileges for not having insurance as well as suspend your vehicle registration. I suggest, if you aren't clear on why you weren't covered for the loss, that you call your insurance company for clarification. Where I come from, if I'm towing a trailer with something in it, in most cases that trailer is considered an extension of my vehicle and is, therefore, covered by my auto liability coverage. Get clarification.

Answer 3

I own a company that handles claims against uninsured parties. The process is called subrogation. You don't mention what state you are in so I will have to provide just general information.

First off, was the denial from your company legit? Do you agree with the reason they gave for denying the claim or coverage.

Second, who secured the Dune Buggy on the trailer. If it is somebody other than you they might be held partially responsible also.

If the denial is legit the other company can make things miserable for you over the long haul.

In most states they will first seek a voluntary payment plan with you.

If you don't do that they will file a lawsuit against you which in most states can lead to a judgment that can lead to the revocation of your drivers license for up to 20 yrs or until the debt is paid.

The court judgment (in most states) also allows them to add up to 12% interest to the original amount.

The judgment will be on your credit report as long as it is active (most likely 20 yrs). It will keep you from enjoying it if you get into a better financial situation than you are currently in. No loans, no credit cars, no cell ph contracts etc. etc.

I strongly advise against letting them do this to you. I do this to people everyday and it is not pretty. Try working them. Many people sell motorcycles, old cars etc to come up with the money to avoid having a judgment screw their lives up for 20 long years.

Good Luck

Answer 4

They can - and most likely will - sue you. They'll garnish your wages, too.

Why did your insurance company deny the claim? Get clear with them about why they aren't paying. Seems to me your policy should cover an accident like this.

If they won't, you're going to have to work out some sort of arrangement with the lady whose car you damaged. You are responsible for what happened, whether your insurance company will pay or not. I'd be very proactive about working something out, so that you don't end up in court.

Answer 5

First, sue you. Until they win the lawsuit, very little.
Once they win the lawsuit, if you still do not pay, take your car or house, garnish your paycheck, or do various other things. By the way, (a) why did your insurance company deny the claim? (b) how could you afford the dune buggy and the trailer?

Answer 6

Realalisicly, they can not do anything to you except hassel you. However they can put a lein against any of your assets by getting a court judgement against you. You may find it difficult to purchase auto insurance in the future however.

You should attempt to work out some kind of payment plan if at all possible.

Hope that helps,
Dale

Answer 7

They could potentially file a judgement lien on you. It would show up in any credit report. You should consult with an attorney, most offer free consults. You might have other options, like suing your insurance carrier.

Answer 8

They will take you to court, the court will rule in there favour. If you have nothing, I sure that is not true. Every one has something, car, stereo, something. Given that there will be a judgement against you, and any future moneys you would come into, be it a job, inheritance, marriage, they will get it.

Answer 9

Send them right back to your insurance company.

Why did the Insurance company deny your claim?

Her company should just pay to fix their insured's car (provided she has collision).

Since your insurance is saying they won't cover it, it should go down in writing for her company as an Uninsured collision.

Answer 10

Well, as the country voted to commit social suicide by voting to con them selves 'conservative', you could go to jail forever.

Really.

Anyone can go to jail; forever under the conservative scheme. You see, there is a "legal practice", well established in US law (it is what caused the great depression) that says any judge can feud with anyone, at anytime for no reason and get the cops to help.

Now, the conservatives have "expanded those powers" via technology and refined sensor-ship and propaganda practices. They call this "The Child Protection Act". You see, in a feud it has always been the "problem" that children don't like having their fathers and siblings and mothers killed, etc. so the judge can get really rich. No. They don't. So, as the children are sometimes "bastards", they can hide from the feud, only to surface years later when grown and get some revenge. Protection from these children is the key to "good law", as the conservatives see things; conservatives hate weakness and bastards might kill a whole lot of "good people" who murder the weak by deliberate judicial malpractice. Conservatives now call a feud a "child support enforcement". They have broad powers to hide arrests and murders by labor camp. They can reassign names to people from other countries that pay to get in and have studied US generated TV (the identity theft issue). They can can forbid any person from speaking about "support enforcement". They can use DNA to find non-bastard relatives and kill these outright. So, they can use the Child Protection Act to prevent a bastard from knowing where daddy, mommy and all the family went. A completely one sided feud, ideal from the conservative way of thinking.

In the old days, things got so bad that the people started hiding money. Judges would steal anything they could find, and use this as an excuse to enslave and murder as well. JFK found that better than 70% of all prisoners in some States were in for vagrancy, which is, more or less, the act of having insufficient funds to bribe a cop. His study found that the average life expectancy was less than two years, and that though by Statute vagrancy was limited in the amount of time a judge could impose at hard labor, the terms were almost always extended further for "not working hard enough at hard labor" - or jury-less prosecutions of the civil crimes of vagrancy then contempt for not working hard enough. Usually a man either escaped or died.

Once this got out, few minorities kept money where it could be seized. But rather it went into holes in the ground to bribe police and guards if needed.

This was deflation. No money for goods = more goods than money or money worth more than goods. Simple supply and demand.

It lead to WWII.

It will lead to WW III if we aren't lucky.

But then again, with so few people "getting it", that the judicial can kill at will anyone worth robbing, few people are today hiding money, as they must if they are to be safe.

Your dilemma = provocation for a feud. Increasingly, it's the judicial that own everything. Thus insurance companies will soon be if they are not now owned by judges. After all, in every potential case the ability to sue by feud and false child support - in any amount at any ordered imputed income rate & the ability to hide the feud by calling the judicial matter a support enforcement measure = the ability of judicial to own anything they want, and the ability of other judges to do so if they get there first. If or when the judge that wants it takes your insurance company in "divorce", you will be insulting the company of a judge. Then, you will be and all your children and family, at risk to feud.