Auto Insurance broker failed to add driver and now claim has been denied Help pleassssse?

Question:

So I called the owner of the broker company who told me that he would gladly backdate the policy upon the notion that AIG would accept it and they said that they would. Then the owner called me back stating that his broker that issued the policy already gave a recorded statement to the insurance company stating that he did not remember us requesting the added driver to the policy so he cant help us or he would lose his license as a broker by recanting on a recorded statement so he then told me to make the adjuster take the recorded statement off the record and they will do it but it is illegal to even ask them to do that. Our Policy has canceled several other times due to this broker not turning in the proper paper work to AIG. I need help I have went through all the chain of comands and the california insurance board what is left??

Answer:
OK, if the claim was denied for failure to disclose the driver, ie, because there was an unlisted driver on the policy, you have a serious errors and ommissions lawsuit on your hand against the broker.

Backdating is risky at best. Companies do NOT like to do it.

He may or may not have had binding authority with AIG. If he had no binding authority, he overstepped his authority.

You are going to need a lawyer on this. And I don't recommend lawyers lightly. But you're looking at an uncovered claim, due to this guy's error and/or ommission.

OK, now, NORMALLY, an insurance company doesn't deny a claim for an unlisted operator . . . they just add them on retroactively to the date of licensing, and charge you (including surcharges) accordingly, so I'm wondering, is it POSSIBLE that this isn't an unlisted operator, but an EXCLUDED operator? Do they even have a LICENSE? And that maybe the excluded operator had the accident, and THEN you called the broker to see if you could add him, backdated?? And when the broker found out about the accident, the company refused to backdate?

*** ok, that makes more sense, with the excluded drivers. UNTIL YOU HAVE the policy endorsement IN WRITING that says you aren't excluded any more, you're still excluded. That is typically NOT a "bindable" endorsement. It would most likely have been outside the agent's authority to "bind" driving on the new car. You're still going to have to get a lawyer if you want to fight it, but it's likely going to be YOUR word against the broker. And it's going to be EXPENSIVE.***

Your broker should have what's called E & O coverage, meaning "errors and ommissions" insurance. This covers mistakes (in essense broker malpractice) made by the broker. I would first start hinting that you may have to seek legal advice and see if that gets you anywhere. If not, hire an attorney to sue the pants off the broker.

It sounds like this situation is too complex to handle in a few sentences based on limited information. You are dealing with contract law, rules regarding material misrepresentation, a potential Errors and Omission claim against the broker, and company/broker relations. You need a lawyer. Not one of those personal injury lawyers. They will need to understand insurance contracts.

Good luck. This is going to get complex.

Auto Insurance broker failed to add driver and now claim has been denied Help pleassssse?

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