Hit by unlicensed driver, any advice?

[miri]

Wife was hit by an unlicensed driver while at a stop light. Damage to our car is mainly the bumper but it is still drivable. Cops took both parties information and said that the other driver had insurance but no license? We contacted our insurance company who I guess will be doing the work for us?

Never had to file a personal claim before so was wondering how do we get reimbursed for a rent a car if the other driver does in fact have insurance?

If we pick a body repair shop, how to deal if insurance trying to lowball on repair costs? Will the repair shop be able to determine any structural damage and if so is that part of the claim?

Thanks!

 

[sourn]

My advice get a lawyer and don't sign anything.

 

[pcgeek11]

You shouldn't need to get reimbursed, their insurance company should just arrange for you a rental with nothing out of your pocket.

Take it to the body shop of Your Choosing. The body shop will deal with the insurance company, you just deal with the body shop. yes they will be able to tell if there is structural damage and it will be part of the claim.

It is rare that the original estimate will cover everything. They usually find other issues when they tear into the job and the body shop will send amendments to the insurance company.

Your insurance company really doesn't need to be involved unless it is uninsured or underinsured driver in the other car.

 

[boomhower]

No license isn't a problem, it's the insurance that matters and they've got it. I've never had a problem with several insurance companies. I'll play their little game and go to the body shop they want and get an estimate. Then I go to my body shop and have it fixed. My body ship is always more and I've never had a company complain about it. They know their shops are low end.

 

[KeithP]

Cops took both parties information and said that the other driver had insurance but no license?

Hate to take this off topic but I am curious, I wasn't aware it was possible to get insurance without a license and it can't be legal to drive without one. Did the Cops say anything in that regard? I wonder if their insurance would cover the accident seeing that an unlicensed driver was behind the wheel?

-KeithP

 

[EagleKeeper]

Hate to take this off topic but I am curious, I wasn't aware it was possible to get insurance without a license and it can't be legal to drive without one. Did the Cops say anything in that regard? I wonder if their insurance would cover the accident seeing that an unlicensed driver was behind the wheel?

-KeithP

1) License could have expired
2) May not have been the owner of vehicle - family member
3) It may have been that the person did not have their license on them.

 

[miri]

You shouldn't need to get reimbursed, their insurance company should just arrange for you a rental with nothing out of your pocket.

Take it to the body shop of Your Choosing. The body shop will deal with the insurance company, you just deal with the body shop. yes they will be able to tell if there is structural damage and it will be part of the claim.

It is rare that the original estimate will cover everything. They usually find other issues when they tear into the job and the body shop will send amendments to the insurance company.

Your insurance company really doesn't need to be involved unless it is uninsured or underinsured driver in the other car.

Well the other driver never got out of their car so the Police took and kept all their info so we don't even know who they are or what type of insurance they have. My wife said our insurance company needs to contact the officer and he will give our insurance company their information.

 

[QuietDad]

Your can go to the Police station and get a copy of the Accident Report. It will have the driver's name and Insurance Info. File a claim under HIS insurance policy and not yours. You'll get your money faster and they'll be willing to settle it without the hassle of "negotiating" with your insurance company. And even if it wasn't your fault, filing a claim with your insurance company will possibly affect your rates.

 

[LTC8K6]

I'd be surprised to learn that an insurance company would cover an "unlicensed" driver, or pay a claim involving one.

 

[jagec]

I'd be surprised to learn that an insurance company would cover an "unlicensed" driver, or pay a claim involving one.

Insurance covers the car, not the driver. Now I'm sure that the company will either drop them or raise their rates for driving while unlicensed, but it shouldn't affect OP's valid claim.

 

[nerp]

Yeah. Say your car gets stolen and damaged before its recovered. Your insurance company would cover that. The driver of your car could have no license, insurance, or even be living here legally for that matter.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Uninsured Motorist Insurance is an option that most companies sell. See if you have it in your policy. Typically this is a different deductable than the collision or comprehensive coverage. For mine, I used to have a $500/Collision/Comprehensive deductable, but my Uninsured Motorist deductable was $200.

After you get the damage assessed and get a quote, they'll cut you a check. If you feel the damage isn't that bad, keep the check and don't fix your car. A ding probably won't hurt the value too bad compared to regular depreciation. I wish I had done this with my previous vehicle....after fixing it from a wreck, it was totalled a month later and I could have pocketed $3500. (I was the victim in both accidents)

 

[SpatiallyAware]

In our situation similar to this... The person had an insurance card but it was fake. Basically it's a method that illegals use to not get arrested... No license is a ticket, but no insurance in my state is mandatory arrest.

So they hit a family member, cop shows up, writes down insurance info which was all fake, and it ended up going under the uninsured motorist policy.


My suggestion is to let your insurance deal with it. You'll have to pay the deductible, but you'll get that back if their insurance works out.

Usually your ins company will send someone out to assess the damage. They will push you to use "their" body shop. If you don't care much about your car then no big deal, but I prefer to use my own shop. Nowadays this stuff is pretty easy to deal with.

 

[Jimzz]

In a case like that I would have called the insurance company they gave right away while the cop was there to make sure the policy accurate and also active.

Many buy a policy and pay for one month to get their tags and then stop paying.

I did that once but it checked out. Only takes a minute or 2.