[V8] unisured motorist and sliding V8Q

[George Selby]

At 09:41 AM 12/21/04, you wrote:
>That is strange! In Texas even if your car is stolen, and the thief 
>smashes into another car, your insurance will cover the liability part. 
>That is the reason a vehicle is on your insurance. I would check with a 
>lawyer concerning this.


 From what I understand, they are feeding you a line of BS.  Insurance runs 
with cars, not drivers, they just need to know the drivers in order to 
determine the rate for the car.  Here's how it works in NC:  If a non-owner 
of a vehicle wrecks a car and causes damage to someone else, the liability 
portion of the policy will cover the damage.  If the driver has insurance 
on their own there is no penalty for the owner of the vehicle.  If the 
driver is not insured then they attach that driver to the insurance on the 
vehicle they were driving, dramatically increasing the rates for the 
owner.  (Primarily due to the wreck they just caused.)  The moral:  Don't 
lend you car to someone unless you know they (1) own their own car and (2) 
have insurance on it.

OTOH, the insurance company is not required to pay you unless they are 
instructed to do so by a court of law.  Now frequently they will pay off 
gratuitously, in exchange for a release of future liability, in order to 
save some money, but they are not REQUIRED to.  I would go talk to the 
officer who took the report and tell him the insurance to trying to skinny 
out by claiming the driver was unauthorized.  The PO can then arrest the 
driver for unauthorized use of a vehicle, which might bring some pressure 
on the insurance co from the girlfriend or the girlfriend's agent.

George Selby