When an insurance company sells an automobile insurance policy to a family, it asks how many drivers live in the family’s residence. The insurer wants to know who might be given access to the car keys. Later if someone not listed on the policy drives the insured vehicle, and then has an accident, a number of questions have to be answered.
Did the driver responsible for the collision get permission to drive that family’s insured vehicle?
If that driver was listed on the policy, then the insurance company that sold the same policy must cover the cost of any repairs or injuries, up to the limits of the policy’s liability coverage.
The insurer’s obligation would be the same, if the policy covered family members, and the other driver was related to the vehicle’s owner. By the same token, the insurance company would have a similar obligation, if the responsible driver was a friend that drove the insured car on a regular basis.
Circumstances that might lift from the insurance company the obligation to cover the accident-caused damages:
The responsible driver did not have a valid license, and the owner of the insured vehicle was aware of that fact. The same driver had chosen to sit behind the steering wheel, while being under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. The same driver had not been granted permission to drive the insured, and now-damaged car.
Circumstances that might push the responsible driver to hire a lawyer:
Maybe the police entered that same driver’s name into the police report, and stated that they had given the name of the person that caused the accident. It could be that the driver’s own recollections have suggested that the person at the steering wheel of the other involved car should be blamed for the collision.
A Personal Injury Lawyer in Sherwood Park for the person named in the police report would have the right to challenge the facts, as stated in that same report. It would then be the lawyer’s job to seek out evidence that could support the set of facts given to the lawyer by the person that had been named in the police report.
That evidence might include new video footage, statements from different witnesses or even proof that the person driving the other vehicle could be charged with comparable negligence. The lawyer’s investigation might also uncover details about a violation committed by that same person. Perhaps he or she had been speeding during the moments before the collision.
The insurance company that would be expected to cover the damages would welcome any finding that could reduce the cost of their obligation. Yet that same obligation might get erased by any limits on the issued policy.