S
stayfair
Guest
…my apologies for the length of this post…
Suburbs of Chicago, Illinois
My sister went to a dealership to purchase a vehicle (10/2000) and brought my father along to co-sign expecting that she would be unable to finance on her own.
After several hours and stacks of paper, she had a 'new' 1995 Blazer to call her own.
In the confusion of all the paper work and terms and conditions, my father had signed on the buyer line and sister on the co-buyer line. My father noticed this and questioned the salesman about it only to be assured that it was 'ok'.
The purchase was made on a Saturday afternoon. The dealership asked my sister for her driver’s license and insurance card, which they photocopied. Standard procedure I assume.
Monday morning 9am my sister telephoned her insurance company to add the vehicle to her policy. The office had just opened and there wasn’t a person available to help her right away. She sat on hold for 16 minutes. Afraid of being late for work, she hung up with the intention of calling back from work or when she returned home from work later in the day.
She had a single car rollover accident on her way home from work that very Monday afternoon (two days after the purchase). No drugs, alcohol or other vehicles were involved (unfamiliarity with the vehicle, wet pavement, and a curb were the contributing factors). She had no significant injuries, just a few scratches.
My sisters insurance will not pay for the damages because she did not notify them that she wanted full coverage on a new vehicle (even though she had made an honest attempt). With her company, automatic coverage of a newly acquired vehicle is dependent upon the coverage that existed on her policy.
My fathers insurance denied payment as well because as they put it his daughter had “placed a call to her insurance to add the vehicle to her policy”. This proves to them that “the intention was to have the vehicle insured by her insurance”. Claim denied.
In the meantime…the payment book showed up at my fathers house instead of my sisters. My father attached a note to a payment my sister made stating that there had been a small mix up and the payment book should be going to his daughter, she was after all the owner of the now totaled vehicle.
In November and December 2000, my father received two letters, one from the dealership and one from the dealerships finance department. The first letter dated November states that they are required to notify the buyer when their request for credit would be on terms different than proposed, or when denied credit. My father sent a letter requesting an explanation as to what their decision was based on and received a return letter in December stating denial of credit based on an ‘unacceptable co-applicant’.
The second letter from the dealership (in response to his note about the payment book being sent to him) stated that he was in fact the buyer and included a copy of the contract showing his signature on the buyer line. So much for the salesman telling him it was ‘ok’ to sign there.
Here are the questions we have…
1) My sisters insurance denied the claim because she had not spoken directly to them about changing her coverage. Was her 9am-telephone call to her insurance that Monday to insure the vehicle not a good faith attempt?
2) Regardless of the ‘intent’ of my sister to insure the vehicle with her insurance (she thought it was hers at the time), shouldn’t my fathers insurance pay the claim (he had full coverage on his other vehicle at the time of purchase)? As the contract reads he is the buyer (albeit only because they were misled, deceived, and/or taken advantage of by the dealership). Does good faith on the part of the insurance company to pay the claim apply here?
3) Regarding the letter of denial of credit my father received in November, does this mean the vehicle was not even technically theirs at the time of the accident? If he was denied credit because of an ‘unacceptable co-applicant’, then wouldn’t the vehicle still have belonged to the dealership at the time of the accident? If that is the case, then wouldn’t the circumstances surrounding the accident be similar to that of someone getting into an accident while taking a vehicle for a test drive?
4) Lastly, can the finance department change the terms of the contract after you leave the dealership? If my father and sister signed the contract in late October and my father received the letter of denial of credit in early November, yet the dealership still allowed them to keep the vehicle it would appear that they somehow changed the terms of the agreement.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very much,
Tom
Suburbs of Chicago, Illinois
My sister went to a dealership to purchase a vehicle (10/2000) and brought my father along to co-sign expecting that she would be unable to finance on her own.
After several hours and stacks of paper, she had a 'new' 1995 Blazer to call her own.
In the confusion of all the paper work and terms and conditions, my father had signed on the buyer line and sister on the co-buyer line. My father noticed this and questioned the salesman about it only to be assured that it was 'ok'.
The purchase was made on a Saturday afternoon. The dealership asked my sister for her driver’s license and insurance card, which they photocopied. Standard procedure I assume.
Monday morning 9am my sister telephoned her insurance company to add the vehicle to her policy. The office had just opened and there wasn’t a person available to help her right away. She sat on hold for 16 minutes. Afraid of being late for work, she hung up with the intention of calling back from work or when she returned home from work later in the day.
She had a single car rollover accident on her way home from work that very Monday afternoon (two days after the purchase). No drugs, alcohol or other vehicles were involved (unfamiliarity with the vehicle, wet pavement, and a curb were the contributing factors). She had no significant injuries, just a few scratches.
My sisters insurance will not pay for the damages because she did not notify them that she wanted full coverage on a new vehicle (even though she had made an honest attempt). With her company, automatic coverage of a newly acquired vehicle is dependent upon the coverage that existed on her policy.
My fathers insurance denied payment as well because as they put it his daughter had “placed a call to her insurance to add the vehicle to her policy”. This proves to them that “the intention was to have the vehicle insured by her insurance”. Claim denied.
In the meantime…the payment book showed up at my fathers house instead of my sisters. My father attached a note to a payment my sister made stating that there had been a small mix up and the payment book should be going to his daughter, she was after all the owner of the now totaled vehicle.
In November and December 2000, my father received two letters, one from the dealership and one from the dealerships finance department. The first letter dated November states that they are required to notify the buyer when their request for credit would be on terms different than proposed, or when denied credit. My father sent a letter requesting an explanation as to what their decision was based on and received a return letter in December stating denial of credit based on an ‘unacceptable co-applicant’.
The second letter from the dealership (in response to his note about the payment book being sent to him) stated that he was in fact the buyer and included a copy of the contract showing his signature on the buyer line. So much for the salesman telling him it was ‘ok’ to sign there.
Here are the questions we have…
1) My sisters insurance denied the claim because she had not spoken directly to them about changing her coverage. Was her 9am-telephone call to her insurance that Monday to insure the vehicle not a good faith attempt?
2) Regardless of the ‘intent’ of my sister to insure the vehicle with her insurance (she thought it was hers at the time), shouldn’t my fathers insurance pay the claim (he had full coverage on his other vehicle at the time of purchase)? As the contract reads he is the buyer (albeit only because they were misled, deceived, and/or taken advantage of by the dealership). Does good faith on the part of the insurance company to pay the claim apply here?
3) Regarding the letter of denial of credit my father received in November, does this mean the vehicle was not even technically theirs at the time of the accident? If he was denied credit because of an ‘unacceptable co-applicant’, then wouldn’t the vehicle still have belonged to the dealership at the time of the accident? If that is the case, then wouldn’t the circumstances surrounding the accident be similar to that of someone getting into an accident while taking a vehicle for a test drive?
4) Lastly, can the finance department change the terms of the contract after you leave the dealership? If my father and sister signed the contract in late October and my father received the letter of denial of credit in early November, yet the dealership still allowed them to keep the vehicle it would appear that they somehow changed the terms of the agreement.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very much,
Tom