Tricky Situation - Need Help!

[jackieboy]

Hey everybody!
I'm new here, so I really hope you guys can help me out with my situation. Here's the problem:
I'm a European student travelling in the U.S during the summer with my girlfriend. I bought a car and I have auto insurance on my name. I also added my girlfriend to the policy, so she could also drive my car.
Well, it so happened that we had a break-up and she went away. The problem is that some time after her leaving I got a call from the insurance company, that she had managed to break a rental car in another state. As she was still under my insurance, the insurance company would pay for it, but they still want the deductible of 250$. Neither them or me could reach the girl by phone or e-mail and I have no knowledge of her whereabouts.
I think that the 250$ is totally her responsibility, but I'm afraid that the company might start requesting it from me. As a student I don't have this kind of funds. What should I do? Is it enough if I just remove her from my policy now?
I'd be really glad if anyone could help.

 

[djs]

Let me clarify that the insurance company does not want the $250, the rental company does. Insurance company doesn't care.

This is important because the contract on the rental agreement is what makes your ex-girlfriend pay the $250, you are not a party to that contract. They will charge it to her credit card.

She is lucky you had not dropped her from the insurance yet. If you had, she would be paying the full bill, without any assistance from the insurance company.

I hope you have now removed her from your coverage......

Dan

P.S. This is not intended as legal advice, just my opinion as someone who understands why your insurance paid the claim in the first place......

 

[FullAuto]

So you can afford to take a vacation for an entire summer on other continent and forget renting a car, you buy one while you're there, and you don't have a spare $250?

 

[jackieboy]

So you can afford to take a vacation for an entire summer on other continent and forget renting a car, you buy one while you're there, and you don't have a spare $250?

Even though I'm on a light budget (looking for a job didn't go as well as planned), I do have the 250$. But I'm just not willing to toss my money away for something I haven't done.

Let me clarify that the insurance company does not want the $250, the rental company does. Insurance company doesn't care.

This is important because the contract on the rental agreement is what makes your ex-girlfriend pay the $250, you are not a party to that contract. They will charge it to her credit card.

She is lucky you had not dropped her from the insurance yet. If you had, she would be paying the full bill, without any assistance from the insurance company.

I hope you have now removed her from your coverage......

Dan

P.S. This is not intended as legal advice, just my opinion as someone who understands why your insurance paid the claim in the first place......

Thanks for explaining the situation!
But it's still the insurance company, who sends me the e-mails demanding the money.. Well, my english is not good enough to understand from the e-mails whether they're demanding the money from me or just informing me of the situation. These formal letters can be quite difficult...
As far as I understand, she must have filed for a claim after her accident and then decided not to pay. The rental company wants their car fixed, the insurance company must pay for it as soon as they get my 250$ deductible.

 

[USF3983]

If she was a 2nd named insured on the policy at the time, she may be entitled to coverage under your policy. But a transfer of coverage to a rental vehicle is designed to be transferred to the rental vehicle if it is deemed a replacement for the vehicle on the declarations page. It isn't designed for a second person to be driving a full-time rental around without consequence to the premium. The insurance company probably could have denied the claim.

If the insurance company paid the claim, then the rental company is going to want to subrogate the deductible from her.

Your insurance company may want to surcharge you an accident at the renewal if you intend to renew the policy.

If you intend on insuring the car after the renewal, you may want to shop with other companies as the accident should only follow the operator.

Don't worry about rude comments from others that aren't attuned to your financial situation. Safe travels to you while in America.