Registered Owner Insured?

[good intent]

What is the name of your state? FL

Hello . . .

I was given a gift of a car from family due to my being disabled & very limited financially. When I was given the car less then a year ago, I insured it with both mine & my live in future wife on the policy. After a scare from some old medical bills that I have no way of paying, I transfered the title into her name and made a sales agreement & had her sign the title on the chance we broke up. (Not a very likely option since we plan to get married, and would already be married except for both of us having some medical problems & a few hurricanes messing up our financial situation. I only have SS Disability for income, so we are always tight financially.)
Several months ago I transfered the title to her with the agreement noted above and her signing it. She was listed on my insurance and everything is exact except for the change on the title. We live together.
She had an accident where she had a kid on a bicycle dart in front of her and she hit a concrete light pole that according to the estimate it comes within a thousand or two of the value of the car and totaling it.
I received an email from the insurance company asking me to tell them which one of our names the car is titled in. They said they needed to know before the policy runs out in a couple months because if it's ownership has changed they need to re-write the policy when it is renewed.
I had informed them when we switched the title and they said when we could we should re-do the policy when possible . . . . (something we didn't have the funds for the last two months, but intended to do as requested on renewal of the policy) . . . but they never said we were not covered. They continued to accept my premium and it's paid in full. Every detail with both names still on the policy and only the title change from me to her have changed.
Are we facing the insurance company trying to avoid paying for the car? What solutions do we have if that happens?

THANK YOU for your advice and time!!What is the name of your state?

 

[JustAPal00]

If the car was transferred into your girlfriends name, but the insurance was in your name, then she wasn't insured at the time of the accident. When you gave the car to her she needed to take out a policy immediatly since she had no insurance. If she failed to do so then she was driving uninsured. Being listed as a driver on a policy owned by someone else is not the same as having insurance. The problem with playing games is in a game there is usually a loser.

 

[ecmst12]

You're both on the policy, I don't forsee a problem. The title change is probably not going to change your premium much (if at all) so I don't know why you'd be worried about that at any rate.

YES, being listed as a driver on a policy owned by someone else IS the same as having insurance. You are both insured and legally allowed to drive the car and covered for any accidents. Don't listen to JustAPal, he's 100% wrong on this.

 

[JustAPal00]

You're both on the policy, I don't forsee a problem. The title change is probably not going to change your premium much (if at all) so I don't know why you'd be worried about that at any rate.

YES, being listed as a driver on a policy owned by someone else IS the same as having insurance. You are both insured and legally allowed to drive the car and covered for any accidents. Don't listen to JustAPal, he's 100% wrong on this.

As long as the policy owner owns the vehicle! He transfered the title several months ago!

If person "A" and person "B" are not related. Person "A" owns a car and has person "B" listed as a driver. Then person "B" acquires a car. Person "B" is not covered under the policy owned by person "A" and would have to take out their own policy. In this case the OP was the owner of the car, and had his girlfriend(roomate) listed as a driver on the policy. He then gave the car to her and switched ownership of the car. She did not take out an insurance policy on the car, rather he just kept paying his policy even though he no longer owned the car. The car owned by her is uninsured.

 

[ecmst12]

You are wrong. The policy owner does NOT have to be the vehicle owner. The car is insured. Both of them are listed as drivers. That is all that matters.

If person "A" and person "B" are not related. Person "A" owns a car and has person "B" listed as a driver. Then person "B" acquires a car. Person "B" is not covered under the policy owned by person "A" and would have to take out their own policy.

That is because B has acquired a new car not already on the policy. A transfer of ownership does not require a new policy.

 

[moburkes]

Some insurance companies don't write the risk that OP is describing, regardless of the relationship of the drivers. So, if the insurance company would not have written the policy for driver A if driver A (the OWNER of the policy) didn't own the vehicle, then it might be a problem. I haven't seen this cause a premium difference. I have only seen companies decline to write the risk.

edit: The only time that the relationship comes in to play, is for married people. Parents/children, siblings, and other relatives don't matter.

 

[ecmst12]

And all they told OP was that the policy needed to be re-written at renewal, NOT immediately even.

 

[moburkes]

And all they told OP was that the policy needed to be re-written at renewal, NOT immediately even.

Yep, but that might have been an agent/broker error.

 

[ecmst12]

I don't even think our agents care who the registered owner of the car is

 

[moburkes]

I don't even think our agents care who the registered owner of the car is

They should. That is definintely material misrepresentation. If they represent the insurance company (agent), then they might take a hit on their E&O, and keep their job, but it won't hurt the customer. If they are a broker, it could hurt the customer, cause an E&O claim, and a lawsuit.

Having said that, that's why I no longer sell insurance. The honest ones keep good customers, but don't have the highest sales.

 

[JustAPal00]

You are wrong. The policy owner does NOT have to be the vehicle owner. The car is insured. Both of them are listed as drivers. That is all that matters.



That is because B has acquired a new car not already on the policy. A transfer of ownership does not require a new policy.

In some cases it may not require a NEW policy, but it does require that the policy be changed to reflect the ownership change. In my companies case you have 30 days.

I have to admit that from the OP's story I assumed that he was the owner of the car and the policy, and that she was just listed as a household resident and driver.

 

[good intent]

THANKS & Question . . . .

Hello . . .

THANKS to everyone who took the time to give me their professional views on this!

It really had me upset worrying that as we made all the attempts to do the correct things, as our budget allows. I'm still not feeling great now, with my car that I really liked being totaled, and the probable issue of future insurance coverage being hard to fit to our financial situation. When you add in the fact it was given as a gift in a very awesome gesture, from relatives, due to my being on such a fixed income due to medical issues . . . it hurts even more.
However, by giving us a vehicle with awesome safety features . . . compared to the very old, unreliable one w/o many of the current safety tech built into cars today. . . . I feel pretty sure she could have been killed or seriously hurt if she had been driving that car.

The claims adjuster who was very calming and well suited to dealing with freaked out people who are in crises, has contacted me and is working to come up with a figure to offer us. I was told to expect it today, so I guess I'll see what happens.

I hope the facts that we never tried to hide or make representations that were untrue or miss-leading, the notice given that I need to advise them of the name on the title by the renewal date . . . or underwriting wouldn't re-write the policy . . . and in all the documents I've received from them with this policy, I can't find anywhere where it mentions anything about the person who bought the policy needing to be the owner, and that at all times, my GF has been listed as one of the two drivers on the policy . . . with no material facts regarding residence, driving distance, location, etc. . . . having changed in any way . . . I hope that does assure a settlement.

Question:Assuming it is paid off, how is the future of our insurance premium amounts going to be affected? I assume since the policy was in my name, my future premiums will increase, correct? Or, will they only be increased if she continues on my policy as a named driver? How much of an increase can be expected & how hard will it be to get a new policy?

THANKS AGAIN to those taking their time to offer answers!

good intent

 

[moburkes]

If the accident was her fault, then there will be a surcharge. If it wasn't, there won't be.

Oh, and underwriting guidelines won't be listed on your policy paperwork.

 

[good intent]

Underwritting guidlines . . .

If the companies guidelines for writing policies is not on the policy paperwork sent to the person who purchases it, how are you to avoid making errors without any bad intent or fraud in mind? I knew a needed decision was needed RE: Ownership, but without any firm dates given or notification that on such and such date, I was not covered anymore, along with the request to supply clarification by the renewal date for underwriting to proceed, Unless someone is an insurance professional, how are they to avoid such possible pitfalls?

THANKS!

Good Intent

 

[moburkes]

If the companies guidelines for writing policies is not on the policy paperwork sent to the person who purchases it, how are you to avoid making errors without any bad intent or fraud in mind? I knew a needed decision was needed RE: Ownership, but without any firm dates given or notification that on such and such date, I was not covered anymore, along with the request to supply clarification by the renewal date for underwriting to proceed, Unless someone is an insurance professional, how are they to avoid such possible pitfalls?

THANKS!

Good Intent

Um, the book would be too thick. Its just not possible. BUT, I can certainly tell you that it is a newer "thing" for insurance companies to insure vehicles that aren't owned by the named insured (person #1 on the policy). So, standard practice would be that you can get insurance for a vehicle that you own and drive. It is nonstandard to drive a vehicle that doesn't belong to you. That would merit a call to the insurance company.

People say to me all of the time, about being an insurance professional, so therefore, I would know these things. I don't really know how to respond, except to say:

I've chosen to be an informed consumer. Of course, you're not going to know EVERYTHING when you perform a transaction. Before I bought a vehicle, I learned about cars, the sales process, the type of vehicle that I wanted, the place that I was buying it from, etc. I READ the contract to see if it make sense. The same for when I bought my house. I READ every page that I signed. Did that make me know everything? Absolutely not. BUT, I knew more than 90% of the people who also bought houses, simply because they didn't read, nor did they ask questions.

A policy (a written contract) will override what an agent says, but agents can be held responsible for what they say.