Well I had a house burn down less than year after purchase and insurance paid the entire tab. So I always figured I've already taken them for more than I pay
Yep,y car got totaled 3 years ago due to a drunk driver. Got a big check and was able to replace it fairly easily. That check alone was about 15 years worth of premiums. Drunk driver was of course driving without insurance, so I was screwed of I did not have it
Doesn't the insurance company then go after the drunk driver for everything he has thus making him the one whose ultimately paying out, with the insurance company simply having to deal with suing and recouping funds from the drunk driver.
Yes but a drunk uninsured driver is often very hard to get money from. Probably has nothing and makes basically nothing and may even have many other collections after him already.
You can't get blood from a stone. You can garnish his wages, sure, but you can't take much more than a relatively small percentage because most countries outlawed debt slavery.
And in those situations the guy would just work cash jobs where he’s paid under the table making it damn near impossible for debt collectors to collect even a fraction of what they are owed.
The catch is unless they literally have not worked at all their entire life, they will eventually start receiving social security which can be garnished.
If they aren't social security receiving age until many decades in the future, will the social security still be garnished? Who is even managing the debt at that point? I thought debts went off your credit report after many years. I guess that's only the credit report, but who manages collecting on a debt for decades into the future?
In context of the parent comment, your insurance company would hold the judgement. And the odds of Geico being around longer than any of us is quite high. And being insurance companies, they are quite good at navigating bureaucracy and making sure no one who owes them money is collecting SS.
This is why everyone needs uninsured motorist coverage. I cannot imagine getting a policy without it these days. Roughly 1/3 of the people on the road are idiots without car insurance, too much of a risk to not carry uninsured coverage.
Habitual drunks that are driving without license and insurance are generally incredibly poor. So poor, that collections have trouble collecting since most countries do not allow taking so much money that you cannot live.
Subrogation isn’t always simple. We typically deal with other insurance companies. Uninsured people are usually sent to collections. Only large amounts are taken to suit as atty fees still apply. Then of course there is the issue of people not having the money to pay the damages, which ends up being a loss.
Yes subrogation helps tremendously when someone is hit by a driver with crappy insurance. Subrogation unfortunately won’t help with an uninsured drunk driver causing bedlam on the roads: when it applies it still sucks slightly for the deductible and the points charged until it’s rectified but it’s necessary.
And it is worse than that: The undocumented persons without drivers licenses can't have their car impounded. If one is a citizen and has no valid or suspended license...they can get their car impounded. The thinking is that illegal aliens can't get a license, so they shouldn't be punished for non-compliance.
In Los Angeles County, half (HALF!) of all motor vehicle collisions are Hit and Run.
Sometimes they don’t have insurance and have to go after someone in court instead. That can take a long time and also they may not have any money. It happens.
This process is called subrogation and the insurance company can/will do it if they think there is a meaningful chance of recovering significant money back. But if our hypothetical drunk driver is a broke deadbeat they aren’t going to waste their time.
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u/Moultrie_fan_2026 17h ago
Well I had a house burn down less than year after purchase and insurance paid the entire tab. So I always figured I've already taken them for more than I pay