I got a letter from other person's insurance that i owed
 

Hi guys!

I had an accident back in April and i only liability insurance that covers $15000 for bodily injury and $5000 for property damage

I paid $13000 to fix my car, and now the other person (who i hit) insurance company sent me a letter saying they paid $12,000 which includes their insured' deductible.

And they are saying they have been informed that their claim exceeds my policy limit, therefore leaving a balance owed by me directly...

Do I really have to pay this..?
I mean.. it seems this insurance company is trying to make up their loss from me. Is this right way to do?

Please advise. Im frustrated.

They should be contacting your insurance. I would ask your insurance about it.

They are assholes. Throw it in the trash.

Don't ignore it. Forward the letter to your insurance agent asap, and do not discuss policy limits with the other person or their insurance company. Ask your insurance company what they will be doing to address the situation. If you are unsatisfied with their response, consider seeking legal counsel to protect your interests.

If you have 5k in property coverage, you're accountable for all damage over that amount. It's called being under-insured. Maybe you can settle for something less, if you don't have the assets.

I have 100k for property damage plus an umbrella policy. I could crash into almost anything and be fine, at least liability wise.

You need to speak with a lawyer. Soon.

Usually the other insurer can sue you for damages above what your policy paid. Turn it around the other way. Suppose someone smashed your car while it was parked and caused $20K in damage, but they only had $10K in coverage. Should you have to come up with $10K to fix your car?

Suppose you filed a claim with your comprehensive coverage instead. Your insurer gets the $10K from the other driver's insurance through subrogation. Should your insurer have to pay the extra $10K when it was the other guy's fault? Your insurer agreed to accept your risk, not the other guy who didn't buy enough insurance. If we didn't have the incentive of potentially getting sued, everybody would just buy the minimums, nobody would ever be made whole after an accident and rates for comprehensive insurance would skyrocket.

Sometimes state insurance regulations put limits on how insurers can recover, so you need to speak with a lawyer and not rely on the idiotic responses posted on a message board. A lawyer will be able to lay out your options and help you find the best way through this.

But whatever you do, don't ignore it, unless you just like having judgments entered against you that result in liens against your property and bank account.

Compulsory third party for around $20 million, costs me around $500 a year, covers people and property

Plus

Comprehensive insurance, cover my vehilce and their vehicle if I'm at fault in an accident, $1000 a year

Plus rego, $500

Total cost to keep car on the road legaly with no risk, around $2k a year

Oh, and by no risk, you need to be sober and not on drugs, if you are found to be over the legal alchol limit, or on drugs, all claims will be denied

That's not just illegal drugs, that also covers misuse of prescription drugs

PPPPP

Yes you can be liable for this. If this is the first letter and it did not come certified yes throw it in the trash and move on. The only way they can make you pay is to take you court and get a judgment against you. Until you get a summons to appear in court don't worry about it. If you do you will have chose to have your insurance company or a lawyer represent you. FYI the insurance company has lawyers that you have paid already. I have been through this with my Son. Similar situation, they sued my son personally for $1,000,000. Sent info to insurance company they worked it out he never had to go to court. it is a ploy to get more money from your insurance. company.

Thanks.. I literally have $100 in my bank account. I can't afford to pay this.

Will I go to jail if I go to court and have to pay this and I can't pay?

I don't even have any assets except my car

No you can't go to jail. They haven't had debtor's prisons for a while now. It will play havoc with your credit score for a long time.
As said you need to talk to your insurance company and see if they have indeed already paid out the max and that you are on the hook for the rest. Once you know where you really stand then you can work to correct it.

Ignore all letters they send you! Do not talk to them on the phone! They are trying to bully/scare you into paying. You do not owe them anything until you have a settlement against you in court. It is a waste of time for them to get a settlement against you. If they sue you it is just do that to get more out of your insurance company.

This is horrible advice. If the costs did indeed exceed his woefully inadequate insurance then the other insurance company is well within their rights to recoup those costs from him directly. His coverage was for only $5,000and the costs to the insurance company were $12,000 this leave a shitload of cash on the table. Ignoring the letters and pushing it to court could only make the whole thing worse for him.


He is a fault. He admits he is at fault. Why should somebody else (yes, even an insurance company) take the hit for his accident? The moral of the story is that if you can't afford to properly insure your car you shouldn't be driving it.


If this was flipped around and he was saying some underinsured guy hit him then everybody here would be screaming for their blood since they were just a horrible human and should not be allowed on the road.

My insurance claim department is not even pickinup..

F*** Geic*

So once I figure out my insurance company has paid the max.

What would you recommend to do next? Call their insurance company and tell them I have no money..?

I can't even hire a lawyer. I have $100 in my bank account

I am going to make some assumptions here so correct me if anything is wrong.


You are distinctly at fault in the accident. You received a ticket or charge and did not fight it. It is now too late to get a lawyer and try to fight the level of responsibility.
Your insurance policy was for up to $5,000 property damage and the repairs were $13,000. This leaves $8,000 left over. Your insurance company is NOT going to cover that since your premiums paid were only for the $5,000 max. The remaining part is your responsibility not theirs.
You have no money but that means nothing when you now owe some. There is really no way to get out of it and the $$ amount is high enough that the other insurance company is not going to just walk away.


What I would do is speak to the other company and see if you can make any arrangements for payments. Ignoring it isn't going to make it go away since the insurance company has a totally legitimate and reasonable claim against you. If they take it to court and get a settlement against you (not having any money is not a defense and they WILL win) then you will end up paying even more since legal and court costs will add up fast and will get tacked onto what you owe. Contacting them and getting a deal made will cost you money but it will be less than a court judgement and will probably not impact your credit score. Even if you had to take out a loan or (I hate to say it) sell the car to cover the costs you may be better off than any forced settlement.


Yes the whole thing sucks but hopefully you now understand the importance of full coverage insurance.