Community Chat

[drizzellla]

We had our car totaled in Philadelphia. The kid was test driving a vehicle and found out on Roosevelt Boulevard that he had no brakes.

He also had no insurance or license. We were told since no cop saw the accident, the kid would not get any tickets. So he just walked away from the accident. And we had to buy a new car. We no longer had collision insurance on the car.

The kid did not get so much as a fine. But we had to spend the money to buy a new car.

[Brisky]

@drizzellla, sounds like one bad deal there! It's unfair for the people who do follow the law. Raw Deal!

[FancyPhillyshopper]

Unfortunately in large cities there are many unlicensed drivers and many uninsured cars.

However, police CAN immediately confiscate a car that does not adhere to the laws.

You can sue them and win, but they will never pay anyway.

Sometimes people drive junkers and after an accident, they will abandon the car and run away.

They can get a criminal citation, but they may never show up in court.

It is good to have your own insurance to protect YOURSELF.

[hckynut]

@Warrior2022 

It's possible that someone can have their license expire and not realize it. Had it not been for a County Sheriff noticing this on my license(2 weeks prior to expiration), that would be me. My insurance would still have been valid unless my insurer later denied a claim.

Wonder her insurer will follow through? Some likely would not.

hckynut

[NYC Susan]

I don't find this at all shocking.  She may not be the owner of the car.  Just be glad the car had insurance.

I have a good friend who was severely injured when she was hit by an SUV driven by someone who did not own it.  There was no insurance.  It's a very long story, but because of that and other reasons (none of them her fault) she had no recourse whatsoever.

[songbird]

@Annabellethecat66   Yeah, I've seen that show!  I was shocked too.  Lots of people (mostly very young) either underage, no licence, no I.D., no insurance, stolen car, you name it.  Yet, they were all able to get and drive cars.

[Spurt]

@Warrior2022 

(per a friend that works in insurance)

You can buy a car without a license (lets say a grandfather that no longer drives buys a car for a grandchild ), but to get it registered and insured you need a license. The insurance company will run a Motor Vehicle Report and if he has tickets or accidents his premium will be impacted by the report...

Perhaps that person was just borrowing someone else's car???? OR it may be that his license got suspended for some reason---failed to pay tickets, or had a DUI and the insurance company has to wait until the renewal date to serve legal notice and get rid of him.... or maybe they failed to go to the DMV to renew???? 

A LOT of people in our city have licenses BUT no insurance so be thankful for that....

A friend was hit buy an uninsured and unlicensed driver, her insurance company subrogated against him, he paid $25 a week in what took forever to pay her $500 deductible...at least the guy that hit her antied up....some dont....

[SilleeMee]

If someone who has no license drives my insured car, they are not covered by that insurance...all unlicensed drivers are automatically excluded from my car insurance coverage and that's not just for me but for everyone in my state.

[Spurt]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

If someone who has no license drives my insured car, they are not covered by that insurance...all unlicensed drivers are automatically excluded from my car insurance coverage and that's not just for me but for everyone in my state.

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@SilleeMee 

As you indicated thats in your state, and the laws do vary....some states will provide coverage as long as that person was given permission by the owner to drive the car as a "permissive user"...BUT not all insurance companies cover permissive drivers ..The owner will mostly likely get canceled by the insurance company too for letting an unlicensed driver operate their vehicle.