At-Fault Accident Assistance

[wahres]

So I was dropping my significant other off at work so I could keep the car in case an emergency came up with our 7 month old when I hit someone. I had just turned around and checked out the back windshield, started backing up while checking my mirrors, and suddenly there was what sounded like a tin can being crunched. Looked out the back windshield to see a guy getting out of a car (door was open and he was still seated) staring back at me. He went to work and his wife and I called the sheriff out to do a report. They had a couple light scratches which seemed to have peeled paint off of our car.

I was driving his car only because the transmission on mine went out. I am not covered by his insurance. No one was hurt. I could have sworn there was no one behind me when i started backing up. It would not surprise me if they had literally just pulled up. The other driver and I did not swap insurance info directly, but we did both give our information to the officer that showed up. I was not issued a citation.

We were wondering what the possible consequences of this could be.

 

[VolAgent]

Since you were backing up, you are almost certainly liable. As it was on private property, I assume, then that would explain why you weren't cited. Ultimately the insurance companies will make their own determination of liability, although you should expect to be found at fault. Best case scenario is that they split it.

Also, you are most likely covered. It appears you and your partner have your own separate policies and you aren't on each others? Since you were a permissive driver, meaning given permission to drive his vehicle, you are probably covered. I assume you weren't explicitly excluded from his coverage and there is nothing unusual about his policy that would exclude a permissive driver.

The bad news is that your partner is not going to like his renewal from the insurance company. 1, there will now be an accident on it, 2, they will almost certainly want you listed and rated OR they may simply refuse to renew the policy which means he'll have to get new coverage.

 

[djs]

Since you were backing up, you are almost certainly liable. As it was on private property, I assume, then that would explain why you weren't cited. Ultimately the insurance companies will make their own determination of liability, although you should expect to be found at fault. Best case scenario is that they split it.

Also, you are most likely covered. It appears you and your partner have your own separate policies and you aren't on each others? Since you were a permissive driver, meaning given permission to drive his vehicle, you are probably covered. I assume you weren't explicitly excluded from his coverage and there is nothing unusual about his policy that would exclude a permissive driver.

The bad news is that your partner is not going to like his renewal from the insurance company. 1, there will now be an accident on it, 2, they will almost certainly want you listed and rated OR they may simply refuse to renew the policy which means he'll have to get new coverage.

Sort of. The policy and the state laws will cover some of this. If you and your partner live in the same household, his policy may deny coverage due to an unlisted driver. If you have your own policy, this is not usually the case but if they do, then your policy will cover the damage to the car you hit. Yes, your policy because policies cover drivers as well as cars. Now, it won't cover the damage to your partners car if you have to use your policy for coverage.

Also, accidents are rated to DRIVERS, not CARS. This means your policy will take the rate increase on renewal, not your partners. Even if your partners policy covers the damage, it will have an impact on your policy. It can be confusing, but it works out in the big scheme of things.

Your partners policy will want to understand the relationship and how often you drive the car. A lot of carriers have a tendency to Rate or Exclude for household members. On the other hand, a lot of carriers also simply Rate extra drivers and don't provide an exclusion option.

It really isn't that big of a deal, but it can be a bit of a hassle to decide who covers what.

Dan