I gave my cousin my car until she could get hers fixed I told her she was responsible to get the car tagged, ins on it&to keep it as long as she needed, she has had the car over6 months&she has gotten into an accident&I’m just now finding out that she left the scene of the accident because the person that she hit got the license plate&their ins company has contacted me about paying. I called her to find out what happen and she told me that she didn't ever get the tags for the car or ins. so she was scared they would tow it away so she left. I told her that she needs to call the people ins. company&take care of it. Now she is telling me she'll give the car back to me&I told her I don't care about the car I just don't want them coming after me about paying for an accident I didn’t cause.
If you have insurance on that car, submit the claim to your insurance company. If no insurance, you may be on the hook. If the car was still yours, and if you did not have the intention to give your cousin the car at the beginning of the usage, you are probably stuck. You need to pressure your cousin to pay the damages. You may need to consult with a California Attorney to obtain advice. Good Luck to you.
Richard Todd RosensteinPersonal Injury LawyerGlendale, CA ·
You should file a claim with your own automobile insurance company. If the vehicle is registered in your name and you allowed your cousin to use the vehicle, you can be named in the lawsuit for the damages sustained in the accident. If you are named in a lawsuit and there is no insurance, you will also have the right to file a cross-complaint against your cousin for indemnification.
You are exactly right in having her take care of the damages to the other car. If she doesn't, however, you could be responsible as the owner of the car.
This is an unfortunate situation for you. In California, a person harmed in an accident sues both the owner of the other car and the driver of that car. If you were still the registered owner on the car that you lent to your cousin, you can be held financially responsible for paying the other party's damages. An owner's liability is limited to $15,000 per person for bodily injuries and $30,000.00 total per accident for bodily injuries. The owner is also potentially responsible for paying up to $5,000 per accident for property damages to the other car.
Hopefully you continued to pay for insurance on the car, but I'm guessing since you told your cousin to get the car registered and pay for insurance....that it's possible that you did not continue to pay for insurance on the car. If you carried insurance on the car, report the accident to them immediately.
If you did not carry insurance, then you and your cousin will be pursued by the other driver and their insurance company to pay damages out of your own pocket. That leaves you with 3 options: (1) scrape together money to pay a lump sum settlement; (2) work out a payment plan; or (3) file for bankruptcy.
***This response is provided solely for general information purposes and is not intended as legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship.
If you didn't have ins of your own on the car, you are liable for up to 15k per person, 30k per accident for injuries, and 5k for property damage, since the car was registered to you, and she drove with your permission. If you gave her a defective car and that's what caused the crash, you could possibly be sued for unlimited amounts.
This quesioner said that the friend did not get car insurance. You will probably be sued as the owner of the car and then you may have to cross-complaint in the lawsuit against your friend you loaned the car to. But it will not help you much, since you may get a judgment against your friend, but you will not likely be able to collect, and you will be stuck with the judgement against yourself.
I'm sorry this has happened to you. You should definitely file a claim with your own insurance company and let them handle it for you. This is why you pay your insurance company premiums so let them handle the situation for you.
