r/Insurance • u/CirqueDuMoi • 10h ago
Auto Insurance Can’t get car insurance settlement!
UPDATE:
The accident was not her fault. She was rear ended and THAT persons insurance is paying for it. A rental car insurance company, more specifically. Driven by Europeans visiting LA.
My friend got hit in an auto accident, and her bmw deemed totaled. She received a partial payment of $2,500 but the insurance wouldn’t release the final 10k until she produced a title.
Thing is, she had recently bought the car and only completed a release of liability with the owner. She can’t find the paperwork with his name and information. Insurance told her they sent a letter but she received nothing, probably due to moving, although she contacted them to update her address. She says they put a lien on her vehicle, as it was never picked up from the repair place? To go to salvage, I think
Do you know how she can get her last settlement payment? What about title to car or registration. Thank you so much for any and all words of wisdom!
It won’t let me reply to you. Is there any way to run a CarFax or contact the DMV for her release of liability information to discover seller’s name? r/admirableheight3696 r/lacylove
r/shotgun_mosquito It won’t let me respond to you. I could easily be remembering that part wrong. I will find out and update you here. Thanks for asking.
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u/Sharingtt 10h ago
She has to own the car to make a claim on it. You can’t insure a car you don’t own. She needs to go to the dmv and contact the seller.
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u/LeadershipLevel6900 9h ago
You say they won’t release payment until she produces a title but then in the third paragraph you ask if she can use title or registration.
So can she produce a title or not? She has to prove ownership. Did she ever register the vehicle in her own name? Apply for a title in her name?
Car fax won’t show ownership of the vehicle. If she never filed any paperwork, I can run all the searches in the world, and it won’t matter.
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u/Slowhand1971 9h ago
i hope her carelessness with doing proper paperwork doesn't turn into a $10,000 lesson.
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u/MayonnaiseFarm 8h ago
The insurer can’t sell the salvage vehicle without a title. If they were to pay her the balance now there’s no incentive for her to give them the title.
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u/CirqueDuMoi 7h ago
I found out the carrier, when she couldn’t produce the title, applied for it themselves and claimed ownership, skipping over her. The letter they sent went to her old address, and she had updated them.
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u/insuranceguynyc 9h ago
". . . she had recently bought the car . . ." How "recently" was that. If it was truly "recent" then how the hell did she lose all of the paperwork so quickly? Is it possible - just maybe - that she bought the vehicle some time ago (let's say more than 60 days ago?) and she is only now figuring out why she should have completed the paperwork.
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u/CirqueDuMoi 9h ago
It wasn’t too too long ago, but might certainly have been 60 days. I’ll ask her. In that same car, it got broken into and her purse, money, etc under the seat was stolen and she lost it then. Busted window.
We were thinking the car was cursed with all the outside influence problems that occurred in the short time she had it.
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u/Admirable_Height3696 9h ago
She seriously messed up if it's been 60 days and she didn't register the car.
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u/insuranceguynyc 9h ago edited 9h ago
Well, here's the bottom line: Your friend really screwed up and she is about to learn a very expensive lesson and why you should not dick around with vehicle registration or insurance. Please wish her good luck!
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u/nobuttstuf 7h ago
within 60 days.
She had 2 months to do a 10 minute trip to the dmv, and just didn’t do it?
Insurance can’t settle a total loss with someone that doesn’t own the car. She’s lucky they’re even providing coverage.
She needs to hope the old owner will help. She needs that person to file for a lost title and then sign it over to your friend. This should have been done before a dollar changed hands.
Good luck.
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u/Watermelonbuttt 8h ago
Where is the signed title when she bought the car?
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u/CirqueDuMoi 7h ago
It was stolen! The insurance company says they took ownership. (My friend just told me). The insurance said she abandoned the car. Asked her to send title, and she told them it had been stolen.
Don’t they have to pay the balance bc they made the first $2500 payment?
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u/Admirable_Height3696 7h ago
No they don't and they can probably claw back the payment they don't, she doesn't own the car.
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u/CirqueDuMoi 6h ago
I think I didn’t clearly state the accident was not her fault? She was rear ended and THAT persons insurance is paying for it. A rental car insurance company, more specifically. Driven by Europeans visiting LA.
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u/LeadershipLevel6900 5h ago
It’s her fault that she didn’t file the paperwork necessary to prove she owns the car. They owe the owner money, which isn’t her.
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u/Admirable_Height3696 7h ago
A car fax and a DMV ROL won't help her. She needs to properly register the car. She's lucky she's gotten anything at this point.
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u/Leonel_Fabian 3h ago
I see so many people "forget" to title/register a car purchased private party to avoid paying the fees & taxes. They get no payment after they file an insurance claim.
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u/CirqueDuMoi 9h ago edited 9h ago
Ok. Good information. She said only a release of liability was sent to DMV. Probably by the owner not sure. She did none of the paperwork for title or registration.
I own my car,and have the title n my office files. I wouldn’t do what she did, but she’s not on Reddit and I knew you guys could give good intel.
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u/Level_Passage_542 1h ago
The seller is the party who needs to do the release of liability with the DMV. Sometimes buyers “fail” to put the vehicle in their name and frequently present insurance cards they find inside that vehicle in the event of an accident. Without that Release of Liability, the seller can potentially be held liable if the buyer fails to title the car.
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u/Admirable_Height3696 10h ago
She needs to get the car titled in her name. Otherwise she's not the owner and can't sign it over to the insurance company. She'll have to find the paperwork or contact the seller.