I was hit head on today by a 16 year old driving without a drivers license. He crossed the center line and hit me head on. I don’t know the extent of the damage yet, but the front end was damaged and the both airbags in the front deployed. My car is a 2010, only 15 days old, with only 300 miles on it. What’s the chance I can get their insurance company to replace my car instead of repairing it??? (Ohio)
What makes you think they have insurance or that an unlicensed driver will be willingly covered? Instead of asking here though you should immediately be talking to your own agent and let them handle it. I would sure be looking for a replacement.
Even if the car was insured, will an insurance company pay for a claim when the car in question was used illegally? I don’t know the conclusive answer to this question, but since insurance companies will use any excuse to avoid paying claims…
In this type of circumstance, it is very possible that the OP’s own insurance company is on the hook for this damage.
Too many unanswered questions, other than no license, to even hazard a guess.
Who actually owns the vehicle?
Is the kid even a listed driver on the car’s policy, even if it is insured?
A quick look at Ohio FR ins. laws says one cannot drive without insurance and one cannot allow someone who is not covered to drive your vehicle either.
Property damage wise and if I read it right, apparently one only has to carry coverage for 7500 dollars worth of property damage to others for any one accident.
OUCH in capital letters. A measly 7500 dollars won’t go far on an '10 Toyota; if the coverage even exists.
I’m not familiar with Ohio statutes but if the coverage is high enough I would not want the car repaired since it only has 300 miles on it. The car has now suffered a financial depreciation due to damage and could likely have a paper trail (or CarFax electronic trail) following it. This means you would likely not be able to sell the car for as much in the future because a potential buyer would hear front end damage/bags deployed and assume the vehicle was really whacked; which it may be.
Hopefully, this won’t turn into one of those underinsured motorist/court/no assets type of thing.
Even if the car was insured, will an insurance company pay for a claim when the car in question was used illegally?
If there’s insurance on the car…AND either the driver is the owner…OR the owner knew that this person was driving the car…then the insurance company will pay. They however are NOT required to pay for any damages done to the car of the unlicensed driver.
As for getting the car replaced…Depends on how much damage. If the cost to fix the car exceeds 80-90% of a new car…then they may total it. But it doesn’t sound like it’s that bad. I’d DEMAND new parts (which isn’t going to be a problem since the vehicle is so new that’s there are).
If Mike is correct, the owner of the vehicle driven by the unlicensed 16 year old will have quite a bad situation to deal with himself. More than likely, the 16 year old is the son of the car owner. Because of the circumstances, then there would be no insurance coverage for his/her own car.
Additionally, if the parent claims that he/she knew that the unlicensed brat was driving the car, that will likely result in being dropped by the insurance company and/or having charges (allowing an unlicensed driver to operate a vehicle + contributing to the delinquency of a minor + ?) filed against the car owner by the police.
I empathize much more with the OP, since he/she was the real victim here. However, the owner of the other car will also have an incredible mess to deal with here. I guess that the lesson here is to spend as much time as possible trying to instill good moral values in your child in order to not have to deal with a situation like this.
Good reason to have Uninsured Motorist Coverage, required in DC.
It’s also required in NJ. Here, it is “Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage”.
Please post back and let us know how this works out…
You should do EVERYTHING (including hiring your own lawyer) to get another new car instead of going through the hassle of having yours repaired. Getting all the repair parts needed might take MONTHS… Let someone else buy that car at a big discount when they get it “fixed”…
My own policy expressly has a clause for uninsured/unlicenced driver of the other car. I had to pay for that; the basic package excluded it.
You will do OK, but the expect the usual calculations; it’s a new car, so at least $18,000 worth of damage repair will likely be tolerated before they call it a write-off. Your car will be fixed by a competent shop, approved by the insurance company. Don’t do anything on your own!
The other guy will have the book thrown at him, and deservedly so.
Here in Minnesota, and I would guess elsewhere, we have GAP insurance to cover the cost of replacing the car vs. what its book value is. So if you purchased GAP insurance and there is a maximum that the other driver’s insurance may be on the hook for, then your GAP insurance should kick in. If you have it…
Getting a Lawyer for this is a waste of time and money. You’ll end up spending more money on a lawyer then what you’ll get in return. Now if there were injuries involved…then YES get a Lawyer. As for repair parts taking months to get…that may be true…if it is then that cost will be added into the repair cost…which includes a rental car while car is being repaired. That alone may total the car.
Isn’t GAP insurance just for cars that are financed or leased?
If that is indeed the case, please remember that some of us do pay in good old- fashioned US dollars when we buy new cars.
You can get GAP insurance for new cars you BUY also…However…It’s NOT offered in all 50 states…AND…it’s very expensive. Here in NH or MA where insurance rates are among the highest in the country…it’s usually NOT worth it. Last I checked it was NOT available in NH.