There are often cases where motorists need to find out if an auto has insurance coverage or not and it may even be their own automobile. There are several sources keeping or able to find insurance details of cars and the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is one of them. The DMV usually wants to know if someone has a legitimate reason for checking this information and a police accident report helps. Also, your vehicle registration documents will help if you are checking your own details. Police and insurance companies can help in finding out if someone is insured or not too.
If you are involved in an accident with another vehicle, you can ask its driver about their insurance details. They may not be legally required to share the insurance details, depending on the state but they are required to stop and exchange information. It is best to ask to see their driver license to make sure they are really the person they claim to be and record their name, address, driver license number as well as the license plate of the vehicle and VIN number, which may be etched on the windows. This information will help when you try to find insurance details through the DMV or other sources.
Motorists are required to call the police if they are involved in a traffic accident and there are damages to vehicles or injuries to people. If the other driver is being difficult, you should call the police because they have to provide their car insurance details to police officers, who will give you a copy of the police report with all the information.
If the other driver didn’t stop, you should still call the police to record the incident. If you have the license plate of the vehicle that fled the scene, police can track it down and get the relevant information including auto insurance policy details for you. Otherwise, write down everything you remember about the automobile like make, model, color, time of the incident, which direction the vehicle was coming from and which direction it went. There are cameras everywhere these days and police may be able to identify it through checking camera footage.
They may not have given you the full details but knowing their plate number and insurance company may be enough to ask the company if the car with the given license plate number has up to date insurance coverage. Once you verify the policy, you can still submit a claim directly with at-fault third-party driver’s insurer, providing you have enough evidence like a police report or witnesses to back up your story. It is irrelevant that the other driver is unresponsive.
If all fails and you know the details of the person, you may have to get a lawyer, who will inform the person of your intentions of suing for damages. At some stage, the driver or vehicle owner will have to declare if there is a liability policy covering the vehicle. In most cases, the first letter from your lawyer would do it. Then, you or your lawyer can pursue the third-party insurer.
Motorists can ask their own auto insurance companies to find the at-fault driver’s policy details. Knowing they may have to pay for the damages themselves if they cannot find the other driver’s insurer would motivate your provider.
Policyholders can use their own vehicle insurance coverage to get compensated for their losses in cases of hit and run incidents. If they have Uninsured Motorist coverage, it may pay for the hit and run incident, depending on the state. Otherwise, your own Collision coverage would pay for the damages caused by another driver but you would have to pay the deductible. This would motivate your insurer to find the other driver and get back the money they paid you. If they are successful, you could get your deductible back and the claim on your policy is removed.
How Do I Find If My Car Has Insurance?
There are several ways of finding if you are insured or not. The first step is to go through your files and documents on your computer to see if you can find the communications with your provider or agent and check if your automobile insurance is still valid and not expired. Often people get emails with their policy documents or confirmation of coverage. If you have an online account with your insurer and know the username and password, you quickly sign up and see your current vehicle insurance position.
If all fails, you can go down to your local DMV office with your vehicle registration document and ask them to check it for you. They keep insurance records on all cars registered in the state and can check through their verification systems. It may be possible to check online as well, especially if you got a letter from the DMV asking about your liability coverage.
Alternatively, you can call the last vehicle insurance company you remember you bought a policy from and ask them. They would ask questions like your name, address and license plate number to verify who you are but they should be able to tell you if you have a policy with them or not.
Finally, drivers should verify that there is insurance coverage when they borrow someone else’s auto because they could be responsible for the damages and injuries as the driver if they cause an accident and the vehicle owner hasn’t got liability coverage.