Home >> Will insurance cover an accident where the driver had revoke drivers license?
Will insurance cover an accident where the driver had revoke drivers license?
My girlfriend was recently in an auto accident. There were no other vehicles involved, however she take out a utility pole and the insurance is in my sisters name. Will the insurance pay for the pole?
All the people who are saying the policy won't cover this because driving without a license is illegal are wrong. I can only assume that they are not insurance adjusters. I have handled hundreds of claims during my career where the driver had a suspended or revoked license and coverage was not denied. The policy will not cover damages occurring while committing a crime, such as hitting the utility pole while using the car to get away from a bank you just robbed.
As mbrcatz17 touched on the biggest concern is how often your girlfriend uses your sisters car. Most policies will not provide liability to a non-listed person if the car is made available for their regular use. If it is available for her regular use then the insurance company has double the risk of a claim occurring while only getting the premium dollars for part of the risk (1 driver vs 2 drivers). If your girlfriend lives with your sister you will have a very difficult time getting this covered if your girlfriend is not listed as a driver on your sisters policy. Permissive use is a smaller issue in this case. Your girlfriend must have permission to use the vehicle. If not, coverage may not apply.
So bottom line is, if the two woman don't live together and the car is NOT used by your girlfriend on a regular basis AND she was using it with permission the policy should cover the pole.
No, because the person had no right driving. The law was broken.
That's a tough one, but in general, anything illegal by persons wanting a contract to come to terms voids the whole contract. So, driving without a license would be something like that. If your sister gave permission to the girlfriend to drive, that will be an important point. And, whether there was a traffic ticket ... that's how the court puts the blame on someone.
If you drive with a revoked license, you take on the liability for anything that happens. The insurance company will consider the insurance to be null and void for this incident.
It will also make it very hard to get insurance -- or a license -- in the future.
Insurance policies exclude illegal activities. Since driving with a revoked license is illegal, chances are the insurance company is going to deny the claim.
Insurance companies do not cover illegal acts. E.g. driving without a valid license, drunk driving, etc.
Therefore, the insurance company would not pay for this claim.
Maybe. It depends on the company and the circumstances WHY she was driving the car. If the insurance is in your sister's name to get around paying high risk premiums, it's likely you aren't going to get paid for the pole or the car. But the accident will haunt your sister for a LONG TIME. And if the car is registered to your sister, she could be required to pay for the pole out of pocket.
They will need to report the claim to the insurance company, and let the chips fall where they may.
Policies don't cover illegal acts - like when the vehicle is used to perpetrate a crime, or while it is being stolen. But driving with a revoked license is NOT in the same category. Example: Running a stop sign is illegal, but policies pay for accidents where people ran the stop sign ALL THE TIME. So just the fact that her license is revoked, does NOT mean the policy won't pay. But, if she's not a listed operator, but she uses it regularly, well, they might not pay for that. Or if there was fraud when the policy was obtained, they could deny the claim for that, also.
The general answer is yes the pole will be covered using the liability policy from the vehicle.
If they vehicle was stolen then the pole would not be covered but the vehicle would still be covered under its collision coverage.
It really does not matter if they live together. If it is found they do live together then the ins co may make her start paying premiums from this point forward to properly account for all drivers.
Actually anyone who lives in the household is covered automatically unless they are expressly excluded. And this exclusion is only valid if the owner of the car signed off on this fact with the agent at the time the policy was taken out.
The only other way they would not cover her is to say they were living together when the policy was taken out and fraud was committed in the issuance of the policy. They may be a statue of limitations on this fraud angle though.
As long as anyone is driving your car in Texas with your permission they have as much coverage as you do unless they have another policy which may stack or come into play along with the car's policy.