Arizona Crash

[wmaxima97]

What is the name of your state? AZ

My friend owns a car that he let his brother drive. The car was in my friends name as well as the insurance but his brother was listed as a driver. His brother was in an accident (brother was at fault) with a Navigator which was totalled. My friend only has liability on his car with the state minimums for everything. His insurance company is telling him that they will only cover $10,000 of the damages to the Navigator which was valued at $61,000. They went on to tell my friend that the owner of the Navigator can sue him for the remainding $51,000.

My questions are these, if my friend's brother was driving wouldn't he be the one that got sued?

If my friend gets sued and has to pay the $51,000 can he then go and sue his brother since he was the driver?

Wouldn't the insurance of the person driving the Navigator pay the remaining amount if my friends insurance only covers $10,000?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

 

[ecmst12]

Both your friend and his brother are jointly liable for the remaining $51k and they can both be sued for it. This is why you should carry more then state minimum liability coverage.

I can't even imagine what kind of accident this must have been to total a 61 THOUSAND dollar car.

 

[alnorth]

Wouldn't the insurance of the person driving the Navigator pay the remaining amount if my friends insurance only covers $10,000?

If the other driver has full coverage, sure. What do you think that other driver's insurance is going to do then? Answer: Subrogate against your friend and his brother to get their money back.

In short, they are both probably screwed. Perhaps next time they will pay for more than just the state minimums.

 

[JustAPal00]

The only time it's safe to carry the State minimum is when you own nothing. You can't get blood from a turnip, so if you own nothing and have no money the attorney might decide that it's not worth the effort to sue!

 

[ecmst12]

Even then, if you are young and hope to SOMEDAY own things, having a judgement against you on your credit report is going to suck, a lot!

 

[wmaxima97]

The only time it's safe to carry the State minimum is when you own nothing. You can't get blood from a turnip, so if you own nothing and have no money the attorney might decide that it's not worth the effort to sue!

This might be the only good thing my friend has going for him. He's not a home owner and has nothing in the bank to lose. I'm sure this doesn't comfort him much though.