[Debski60]

I was in a car accident, my fault, with a suspended license, but I was still paying car insurance. Will my insurance pay for what the market price of my car? I also have Gap, will they pay anything?

[smoothy]

I was in a car accident, my fault, with a suspended license, but I was still paying car insurance. Will my insurance pay for what the market price of my car? I also have Gap, will they pay anything?

If they have a legal clause in the contract that allows them to bail out in a situation like this... you handed it to them.

You need to ask your agent. There are so many different clauses and variables with what's allowed and not between insurance companies and state to state its impossible to give a definitive answer.

There are always situations that aren't covered on comprehensive.

You need to be worried about what happens in court if you were cited for this. In Virginia for example...you could get a Year in jail. Saw it happen to a number of people driving on suspended license that DIDN'T cause an accident..

[ScottGem]

If your license was suspended you shouldn't have been driving. If the carrier can use that to get out of covering you they will. And there is a good chance the policy terms will give them that out.

The purpose of gap insurance is to cover the difference between the car's value and the balance of the any loan on the car.

[Fr_Chuck]

There are many things the carrier will do,

First no they do not just pay the market value, they will often pay what is called the "blue book" price. Next depending on the terms of the policy they can do several things. And it all depends on what the terms of policy is.
1. not pay anything to you, since you were driving illegally.
2. Pay, but only pay a much reduced amount, according to the price you were paying and what a policy would cost (high risk coverage)
3. Pay as normal, and then cancel you.

Of course any deductible you may have, 500, 1000 or so on, will be deducted.

This is also assuming you have collision coverage, not just liability coverage

[Alty]

I'm not as familiar with insurance in the US, but I was an auto underwriter for many years in Canada.

When you purchase a car and have it insured, there is a duty on your part to follow the law. In order to drive that vehicle you must have a valid license, it must be registered, and it must be insured. Not having a valid license, or having a suspended license, or not registering your vehicle, makes your insurance null and void. They rely on you, the customer, to uphold the law, and to ensure that your are driving the vehicle with a license and registration. If you do not, than the insurer is no longer responsible for any accidents you may incur.

In other words, you're up crap creek without a paddle. You knew you had a suspended license, you drove anyway, and you caused an accident. Unless your insurer is a moron, they'll have a clause or sef in place to ensure that they don't have to cover this.

Worse, they likely won't cover the other driver either, so be prepared to be sued for the cost of his/her repairs as well, and likely medical bills too, since this accident was your fault.

Good luck, you're going to need it.

[Alty]

Just looked at your other question.

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/job-hu...ui-820108.html

Obviously your license was suspended due to this DUI. In insurance we normally run your drivers info once a year, on renewal of your policy. At that time we see any tickets you may have gotten in the last year. If you add a vehicle to your policy throughout the year, or change terms, we may run a check then, but normally it's only once a year.

It's up to you, the insured, to notify the insurer of any suspension to your license. As an underwriter, if you had contacted me to tell me your license had been suspended, I would have advised you to take liability and collision off, and only keep comprehensive (which covers things like hail damage, snow damage, etc.), and to park your vehicle until the suspension is lifted.

Not calling to notify your insurers that your license was suspended, and continuing to drive your vehicle, is actually fraud.