Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registered?

[jhuang]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

Did you register it as Non-operational or just merely didn't register, hoping the state won't find out.

Could be something an insurance company may come back as a risk they really didn't want to take on because the insured had a moral hazard issue.

 

[VolAgent]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

Did you register it as Non-operational or just merely didn't register, hoping the state won't find out.

Could be something an insurance company may come back as a risk they really didn't want to take on because the insured had a moral hazard issue.

Please, are you just trying to be contrarian? You might as well claim that homeowners would pay out if a property tax bill was outstanding.

 

[Todd Payne]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

If the car is listed on your policy and you have collision coverage, the insurance company will pay to repair the vehicle, minus your deductible of course.

If there is no identification of the vehicle that hit yours, then it is not an Uninsured Motorist situation. UMPD/CDW only applies if there is identification of the at-fault vehicle so the insurance company can verify if the party had insurance or not. If this requirement were not on the policy, everyone who backed into a pole would be claiming UM. For UM bodily injury, no identification of the at-fault party or verification of no insurance is necessary.

The registration issue is irrelevant to the claim. If the police had seen the vehicle parked on the street while being unregistered they could have given you a ticket, but not after the fact (unless the damaged vehicle is still sitting there on the street).

There is no issue of fraud or moral hazard here from what I have read, only an unregistered vehicle parked on the street.

 

[DBKuhnke]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

Did you have full, operating coverage on the vehicle? And by coverage, did you have full coverage to drive the vehicle or did you suspend all coverages but comprehensive?

I'm asking specifically that question because some people say the car is covered and listed on the policy only to find a non-used vehicle had all other coverages suspended except comprehensive in order to save money or reduce loss risks by the agent. If this happened 10 months ago I'm sure you would remember but you would be surprised with people some days...

If it was comp only and everything else was suspended then the UM wouldn't work and I believe you would be in trouble. However, if you have the coverages on the vehicle then you should be okay.

Also, as an aside, if you're really worried about the registration on the vehicle, why don't you register it during the claim? I know people in the process of buying a vehicle and it changes ownership during a claim and the registration didn't affect anything. So at the worst, just register it and you should be okay.

I would be concerned about registering it "during the claim" since that could be construed as an act, post accident, that was intended to modify the applicability of the policy. If the auto is specifically listed on the policy and there are no policy limitations regarding legally registered or operated vehicles then you will have likely have coverage, but doing something affirmative to mask the facts of the situation could be construed negatively by the insurer. Sometimes it is best to not poke the bear.

 

[Guest]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

just file the stupid claim and let the Insurance Company make the decision!

NUFF SAID

 

[djs]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

DB - I assume you don't write P&C? Trust me, the registration has NOTHING to do with the claim. Register, don't register, nobody cares. It's about the same as putting gas in your car as far as the claim is concerned.

RBA is right, unlike health (or life) claims, in the P&C world, simply filing a claim doesn't usually cause any grief (some homeowner exceptions that might cause non-renewals if damage isn't fixed).

Dan

 

[azone]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

The car was simply not registered, not pno, just not registered because I never went to get a smog test, the car hasn't been driven. It is parked at my residence on the street. I still had it fully insured as if I was driving it. This is not a case of fraud, the car was simply hit while parked, they have pictures of my car's for every year as part of my coverage. I was curious as to if I should report it to my insurance or just get it fixed on my own. Since it's my nice car, supposed o be my weekend car at some point, and not my daily driver, I have since reported a claim on my insurance, they are coming to look at it.

 

[PDX_Agent]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

Get an estimate then decide if that amount is worth having a claim on your policy. The registration issue has no bearing on the legitimacy of your claim.

You have a contract with the insurance carrier that states if a certain thing happens (accident) then they will indemnify you (pay to fix your car).

If you claim under your Uninsured Motorist Property Damage (UMPD) then they likely require a police report. If you have Collision then you won't likely have to file a police report. UMPD does have a lower deductible normally and won't go against your claims history.

 

[djs]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

Why should anyone hesitate to file a claim in this situation? If you have collision coverage, file the claim. The car was parked, its not a rated incident.

UMPD won't work unless you know who hit the car, at least not in California.

Don't make this more complicated than it needs to be.

Dan

 

[PDX_Agent]

Re: Can I File a Claim on My Insurance if My Car is Not Registere

It is a bit different up here. We can see UMPD paid out in a phantom vehicle scenario.