Can I sue my own insurance company if they are giving me the runaround?
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Can I sue my own insurance company if they are giving me the runaround?
I was rear ended on 10/30/16. My husband was driving my car with our two kids in the
back. He’s not under my policy. We just never got around to joining our insurances. Anyhow, we were at a stop light and were rear ended by a French tourist driving a rental. On top of that, this tourist is paralyzed, non accident relate his handicap apparatus thing which allows him to drive the rental was faulty. He claims it fell and he couldn’t put the break so he slammed right into us. His rental is from Hertz and my insurance company Mercury isn’t giving me any information about repairing my vehicle.
I’m not sure what to do, they say Hertz is not getting back to them so the claim is at a stand still. Meanwhile, Mercury is threatening to cancel my insurance unless I add my husband or say he is excluded from driving my car?
Asked on December 10, 2016 under Accident Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You do have to add your husband (if you exclude him, you will not be covered for the accident in question): you can't have someone regularly driving your car not on your policy. You may need to do so *now*, even retroactively, to make sure they honor your claim. If he's not on your policy, after all, but was a regular or frequent driver, then the insurer may be able to legally disclaim coverage for this accident.
You can sue the insurer for breach of contract (insurance policies are contracts) and/or for breach of the implied warranty of good faith and fair dealing (the obligation, imposed by law on all parties to contracts, that they deal with the other side in good faith and not overtly try to avoid their contractual obligations) if you feel that under the plain terms of the policy and the circumstances, they have to pay you. Their inability to get the information they might like does NOT absolve them of their obligation to pay claims under the policy.
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