Legal advice re: no auto insurance

[zamler]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

From what I understand shes only responsible for the rear most car. The other guys were too close together and thats why they teach you to stop far back. Although if she was flying when she hit them then she might be responsible for everyone.

If you are hit, and the force of the collision pushes you into the car in front of you, it all comes down to if you were traveling at a safe distance based on your speed. There are many scenarios where you are hardly moving, or even stopped (rush hour) so it would be impossible for you to avoid being pushed into the car in front of you. Unless you plan on always leaving a 3-4 car length gap. And if everyone did that, rush hour would be much worse because there would not be enough room on the road for everyone.

As for the original topic, I find it odd that anyone would just assume they had valid insurance. I check my bank statement electronically every month to make sure the insurance is paid, and heck if I moved I'd make damn sure something vital like insurance was up to date.

Bad situation, but so easily avoided, I hope she finds a reasonable solution.

[macker]

http://www.finance.alberta.ca/public...ndorsement.pdf

SEF #44 = Family protection endorsement and it would cover in this case for bodily injury but it no longer covers for property damage and hasn't for about 10 years. Most policies cover for up to $1,000,000 for this protection of innocent drivers/passengers who are involved in an accident with someone who is not insured or has an inadequate amount of coverage (minimum liability in Alberta is $200,000). She will get familiar with the term subrogation and wage garnishment. They would have sent out 1-2 letters before the registered letter and there is plenty of warning as the process takes 3-4 weeks from the original NSF to the registered letter. I don't think anyone is going to look the other way on this type of scenerio but at least the parties that she ran into will be compensated. What is the deal with faxing in her address change? I have never heard of that? What would be the reasoning of that over calling in to her broker? Something seems strange about faxing this in.
1. Faxed in address change instead of calling in?
2. Didn't have overdraft protection and bounced a $12 payment?
3. Didn't have mailed forwarded to her new address?
4. Circumstances of the accident?
She is going to have to accept the responsibility and the insurance company is going to make sure of this.

Robert Kiyosaki "The only bad thing about insurance is that you can't buy it when you need it".

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

what are the odds the insurance company takes mercy on her? realistically? if she can make a good enough case she made the effort to change address and they botched it, and they some how believe her, is there any chance?

0, she needs the fax log that shows the number dialed when it was sent out and that it was received at the other end.

I agree with the others, if it got to creditors she had been driving for quite a while without insurance.

Your friend is boned, and she's going to be paying massive dollars for insurance, plus she's not going to see her full paycheck for a loooong time.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by macker

Something seems strange about faxing this in.

Something seems very strange about the entire story TBH.

[theonlywhiteout]

nothing really strange about it. just someone who isn't very responsible with stuff like this

[zunie75]

Were the cars involved totalled? as in Insurance write offs? if its body damage to the vehicles and the people involved were not hurt, it may be in your friends best intrest to contact all partys involved.

She could then plead her case to them and ask to pay the damages her self in cash. It would be alot of money for all 3 other cars im sure, but if its possible it might work out better than filing bankruptcy because of being sued.

The other partys invovled are more likely to take pitty on her than the insurance companies and the government.

But of course this all depends on nobody being hurt and your friend being able to find the means (job, selling stuff, loans, family) to pay for 3 other vehicles to be fixed.

[theonlywhiteout]

*sigh* she literally didnt take their names. gave them her info and thats it. you see what i mean about irresponsible?

[GGG]

If no one is hurt and the cars aren't damaged to severly she might get out of it only owing 20k. That sucks but it certainly isn't life destroying.

Its an expensive life lesson but certainly one you can recover from. 2 grand a year for 10 years back to the bank or government is manageable.

[MrSector9]

That is definantly bad if she got no one elses contact info.

Here is hoping they lose hers.

Also did they all decide on where to go to file the police report? as you only have so much time to do that or you can be fined for that as well.

[RW99]

TBQH, there's some incorrect information in this thread, I wouldn't take all of it without some grains of salt Insurance companies prefer to go after other insurance companies, especially when looking at possible bankruptcy. They will get it in writing from her old insurance company she was not insured at the time. And you can get your driver's license suspended until all debts are paid off.

Very slim chance of her getting her old insurance company to pay, so lets go ahead with the uninsured option. The talk of the government paying things out is really only a victims assistance fund for injuries caused by an uninsured driver. This will will have no bearing on property damage.

The IBC chart can be quite confusing. It only applies to insurance companies, not uninsured and not any other party who isn't a part of the agreement. I think I read one of the vehicles was a cab? If so, they will not be apart of this chart ruling and she could be on the hook for loss of use on the cab. It's been a while for me, so I cant remember. But she may have to pay property damage for 1 or all 3 of the vehicles in front of her unless there are witnesses and some evidence of negligence of those in front of her. And she would most likely be responsible for all injuries.

So in the end, if she was able to push to a 4th vehicle, she was not going very slow. Property damages I would think at minimum to be $10,000 to the other 3 vehicles. And I will assume there will be injuries reported, so that could really bump things up. A lawyer is a prerequisite here.

[theonlywhiteout]

can anyone recommend a lawyer?

[zamler]

[Kjesse]

This is a thread with some very good but also some very incorrect information. Everyone wants to help which is good but there is a lot of misinformation that floats around like popular rumours do. Vlad's info on the first page is spot on.

Your friend NEEDS a lawyer now.

I feel sorry for your friend because she has made a mistake not of malice but carelessness, and it is likely to result in massive financial consequences. She could steal $12 from a store and get off with a warning; by not paying $12 on her insurance and a cancellation resulting, well, its not going to be pretty.

She is likely to receive legal papers via registered (or now, "recorded") mail. Tell her to make sure her drivers license registration information is correct as far as address goes in case she gets served by such a process. The more she avoids this, the worse it will get.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I'm a little unclear on one aspect of this.

Your friend didn't realize for how long exactly that she wasn't paying for insurance?

Was it only a single month? Like her insurance just ran out on Jan 31/Feb 1st? Or has this been going on for months?

Assuming she pays around $150/month (+/- $50), are you saying she just didn't notice that she didn't get charged for x number of months and was just too busy to realize?

[VladtheImpaler]

Listen to the guy who might be hired to sue her.

[Rutuu]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Listen to the guy who might be hired to sue her.

Does anyone else think this is hilarious? Or am I the only one that enjoys watching annoying chicks get smacked by reality?

Pretty please tell me she works in the service industry or for Westjet.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

what are the odds the insurance company takes mercy on her? realistically? if she can make a good enough case she made the effort to change address and they botched it, and they some how believe her, is there any chance?

Zero. She's gonna have to absolutely prove her case, every step of the way.

I worked in that industry for a number of years. I can tell you without any doubt or hesitation, they WILL NOT pay single cent more than they absolutely have to.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

*sigh* she literally didnt take their names. gave them her info and thats it. you see what i mean about irresponsible?

I know this is kind of doooshie to say, but "Irresponsible" really doesn't sound like the right adjective.

I'll give ya credit though - good on you for trying to help in whatever way you can. That's a solid friend she's got.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by Rutuu

Does anyone else think this is hilarious? Or am I the only one that enjoys watching annoying chicks get smacked by reality?

Pretty please tell me she works in the service industry or for Westjet.

I don't generally celebrate people's downfall (and couldn't care less about the gender).

That said, it doesn't upset me either when (easily avoidable) bad things happen to people who are either too dumb, lazy or careless enough to avoid them.

The only good to come out of this is that "theonlywhiteout" is turning out to be a pretty solid dude, although he should probably nix any details on what she did/didn't say/do.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by ken0042

That's just weird then, Slava. While the police officer who witnessed my crash told me he likely would have done the same thing; (two kids were play fighting on a snowbank beside the road; I was watching them instead of the car in front of me)- it was my fault that the car in front of me was pushed forward. He had come to a full stop and I plowed right into him.

I wasnt the cause but was a passenger in a similar accident where a cab in Edmonton caused it, my buddy who as driving dealt with them and not the car who did hit him.

Again, that was 12 years ago so things might have changed since then.