See what happens when you don't pay your bills?

[Dave1982]

One of the first things that happened this morning was a woman walked intot he insurance agency asking to speak with her agent. She did not have the name of the agent, but I was able to find the name and she came out to speak with her.

The situation can be summed up thusly. The woman was involved in an auto-accident last year in which she was found to be at-fault. At the time of the accident, she had no insurance coverage due to NON-PAYMENT of her insurance bill. Now she's being taken to court to recover the damages she caused, and is pretty much up shit creek without a paddle.

Thankfully they took this conversation behind closed doors before my head exploded, but the basic gist of her argument was this:

-because she paid her insurance bill (after the accident, of coruse) she should be covered for the accident. The fact that this doesn't change the fact that she was still UNinsured at the TIME of the accident was lost on her.

-Her mother had just recently died at the time of the accident (how this changes the facts of the accident I dont' know).

-She doesn't ahve the money to pay for the damage, so "there's gotta be something you can do."

Here's an idea.....how about you pay your bills on-time? And if you can't afford auto-insurance, well, I'm sorry but you are legally required to in this state. Hell, from what I understand this woman should considere herself lucky she's not facing criminal charges for operating uninsured. She rolled the dice, and they came up snake-eyes, and that's the casino's fault?

Can you saw "EW?"

[Canarr]

How come this isn't reported?

In Germany, if a company cancels auto insurance (whether for nonpayment or any other reason), they first need to notify the policy holder with a cancellation date. Then, when cancellation is effective, they inform our DMV equivalent, who in turn notifies the police, who come and pick up the plates for the vehicle that is now uninsured.

In the end, the person in the hole is the other party in the accident, because no one's going to pay their damages. Sucks.

[Dave1982]

AFAIK, they do notify the RMV and the ex-insured of the cancellation, which also effectively cancels their plates as well, but the police don't show up to confiscate the plates.

[flyingember]

How come this isn't reported?

In Germany, if a company cancels auto insurance (whether for nonpayment or any other reason), they first need to notify the policy holder with a cancellation date. Then, when cancellation is effective, they inform our DMV equivalent, who in turn notifies the police, who come and pick up the plates for the vehicle that is now uninsured.

In the end, the person in the hole is the other party in the accident, because no one's going to pay their damages. Sucks.

it sounds like the insurance company paid out to her and now is sueing the person who was no longer insured, her

policies last 6 months around here but one can pay monthly. so by paperwork she'd be covered if it's still during this 6 month period. my guess is she didn't pay on time right in the middle of a coverage block and one dept didn't tell the other department because of a grace period or internal slowness something like that. there may have been a legal aspect involved too that assumed she had insurance until proven otherwise and if she paid within X days late (i.e. a check was in the mail) she'd be deemed covered the whole time but she didn't.

[LillFilly]

I had a check lost in the mail once and got a letter from my car insurance saying that I'd missed a payment and if I didn't pay my insurance would be canceled by X-date; it was a very reasonable time period and of course I immediately checked my checking statement and sent a new check right away! No WAY that lady could not have realized she wasn't covered, unless the letter was sent to the wrong address.

[Teskeria]

policies last 6 months around here but one can pay monthly. so by paperwork she'd be covered if it's still during this 6 month period. my guess is she didn't pay on time right in the middle of a coverage block and one dept didn't tell the other department because of a grace period or internal slowness something like that. there may have been a legal aspect involved too that assumed she had insurance until proven otherwise and if she paid within X days late (i.e. a check was in the mail) she'd be deemed covered the whole time but she didn't.

Sounds more to me like she didn't bother paying the insurance, possibly with the mindset 'I dont really need it, they just take my money for nothing' until she had an accident. Then she decided to pay up, and wants the insurance to be retroactive so it covers her accident.

[Raveni]

It's required here in Florida too, but it's just something that the police write a ticket for. They will even let you drive away after giving you the ticket, knowing that you can't legally be driving.

[Mister]

She does have a (small and academical) point.

If she stopped paying her insurance money and because of that went uncovered for a period of time, should she even be able to retroactively pay for that period of time?

Off course, the lady in question is trying to abuse the system, she obviously thought "If I the pay the company [X] dollars for the time I missed paying insurance, the company will pay me [more than X] dollars for the accident."

But how about this; Say I pay every first day of the month to buy coverage for that month and I "forget" to pay on February the first. Should I be asked or even be able to pay for February and March on March the first? Even if the company isn't going to retroactively cover February?

[auntiem]

I had a check lost in the mail once and got a letter from my car insurance saying that I'd missed a payment and if I didn't pay my insurance would be canceled by X-date; it was a very reasonable time period and of course I immediately checked my checking statement and sent a new check right away! No WAY that lady could not have realized she wasn't covered, unless the letter was sent to the wrong address.

This happened to me too. I think I was given a whole month to pay and when I did it was retroactive. We are required to have insurance in this state and the fine is larger than paying for insurance for a whole year.
It sounds like this lady missed her deadline and doesn't have insurance retro - sucks to be her. I'm also mad because people like this are why my insurance price is so high (I get the extra "underinsured driver" coverage).

[chainedbarista]

-

Her mother had just recently died at the time of the accident (how this changes the facts of the accident I dont' know).

has absolutely squat to do with the situation; it's just a sympathy/dual hardship bid, trying to guilt your company into covering her.

[taxguykarl]

Exactly.
Back when I still paid bills by mail, I was late with the car insurance and I got both a letter and calls about that matter.
The lady in the OP had plenty of time to get current or find a new carrier. In Illinois, insurance is required.

[TechCreep]

What state are you in Dave?

My wife got hit by an uninsured driver a little over a year ago (just before X-mas in 2009). The police responded, but gave her the option of just exchanging information with the other driver (we found out later that they shouldn't have even given that as an option; they should've checked everyone's information and they would give her a $1000 ticket for driving uninsured).

She had an insurance card, but when we called their insurance they said the car wasn't covered. Our insurance company went after them for the money they had to pay out to get our car fixed (a little under $3000), but gave up. We are now suing her for our deductible plus court costs directly, but what a pain in the ass it has been so far.

-TC

[Dave1982]

What state are you in Dave?

Massachusetts. The penalty for operating uninsured here is up to a $1000 fine and up to 1 year in jail.

[Dave1982]

I forgot to mention that this was the FIRST person that poor agent had to deal with today. As in, the woman was already in the lobby and waiting before the agent even got to work. Fun times, I'm sure.

[BrenDAnn]

Here in Iowa, no insurance gets you a BIG fine if you get caught, and your car gets impounded until you get it insured. That said...I am SO glad I have my car insurance taken out of my bank account automatically every month!