Is it legal for someone else to file a claim with your insurance if they are not on your policy?
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Is it legal for someone else to file a claim with your insurance if they are not on your policy?
I slide into a ditch last week and someone else contacted my insurer and placed a claim. No other vehicles were involved, yet someone placed a claim with my insurance. I don’t see how this
is legal. I am the one who pays the bill and now I am being forced to deal with a claim that I didn’t place.
Asked on November 10, 2016 under Accident Law, Missouri
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
IF you damaged another person's property (including their drainage ditch, for example), then if they know who your insurer is, they have the right to contact that insurer and report the accident and ask for compensation. That does not mean that the insurer will pay, of course, but the communication to your insurer, if it is true and factually accurate, is not illegal.
However, if the facts are untrue--i.e. they were not damaged by your actions--then this would be insurance fraud, and you should make your insurer know it is fraud and also file a report with the police.
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