Auto Car Accident wihtout possible insurance coverage

by Rishab Mehra

I got into an accident during a one day lapse of my insurance. I lapsed on the and paid on 10th evening. but got into an accident on the 10th right before I paid the insurance?

Is there anyway i can be still covered? The investigation has taken over a month and they want a document verifying the date of the accident and I don't really have one since there was no police report.

Please suggest me what shall i do and how should i deal with the situation? Also will I be liable for the other guys car? (I hit him from the behind since he made a sudden stop).

Thank you


Answer:


Sorry to learn about your situation. Hopefully this helps,

Policy lapse is a perfect defense for an insurance company. They can decline payment if the accident happened during the time the policy was not active.

The burden of showing that the accident was covered rest on the shoulders of the insured (you) and the insurance company is probably looking for some confirmation of the exact time.

Can this be covered? It depends on the insurance company. As mentioned above, if the policy was not active, they can simply deny your claim and close the file.

However, in some occasions, if the past dealing or past transactions with the insurance company were done in the same fashion and the policy was still active, then some insurance companies and some courts will extend coverage under the legal doctrine of waiver.

What we mean is this, if in the past you have been "late" or the policy has expired for say, couple of days, but the insurance company still took your payment (premium) and gave you coverage, then you can argue that they waived their defense. They have taken late payments in the past and given coverage for all those days.

This is of course different for some insurance companies, and this argument is not made until you get an attorney and go to court.

Are you liable to the other person? unfortunately you are. The fact that there might not be insurance coverage does not mean that you did not cause the damage. You hit them from behind and that is almost always a clear liability scenario (even if there is a sudden stop). The theory will be that you were following too closely.

We are sorry you are in this situation.

Good Luck