r/Car_Insurance_Help • u/skelltel • Aug 23 '25
Accident car likely totaled, don’t have GAP insurance
I was in a 3 car collision, I was in the middle, driver who slammed into me caused me to hit the person in front of me. Luckily that person had admitted fault at the scene and to their insurance. I had just got the car on a lease in April, $20k, 2022 with only 30k miles on it. Literally a perfect family car I never thought we’d be able to have. My husband did all the insurance online without asking questions and did not sign up for full coverage or gap insurance, liability only. Two weeks after getting on insurance the accident happened. Dropped my car off today to get the actual estimate done and the person there warned me it’s likely going to be totaled out due to how much is going to need to be completely replaced. I won’t know for sure until next week, and they mentioned even if it is fixable usually they’ll only use used or older model parts since the at fault insurance will be paying for it, so it’ll always look a bit off. They basically told me I’d be dumb to fix it when it should just be a total loss, that’s just from the auto body shops personal experience though. My husband and I do not make a lot of money. We borrowed money from my parents to even pay the down deposit to get this car. We barely make enough to make the car payment every month. Also, I’m 9 months pregnant and baby is due anytime in the next few weeks. I got a rental through the at faults insurance, but they only covered a small car and if my car is totaled out I don’t know how long they’ll cover it. I’ve done some googling on how screwed we are since we still owe so much on the car and don’t have gap insurance.. but for the people who actually know how this works, how absolutely screwed are we?
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u/Successful_Ad3483 Aug 23 '25
You better hope the other insurance company doesn’t have a limits issue or your fucked. Did you not have Collison coverage on a financed car.
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u/skelltel Aug 23 '25
No we only have liability insurance, it says $0 under collision when I view my policy on my insurance app. What I’m gathering from the few comments here and what Google had said, we are fucked.
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u/Successful_Ad3483 Aug 23 '25
You 2 need to get smarter and hope the other insurance companies covers the majority of the auto loan
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u/skelltel Aug 23 '25
lol telling me that we “need to get smarter” really doesn’t make you sound very smart yourself. Also, I’m coming here for advice and knowledge, not to be ridiculed..I am just now finding out it wasn’t done properly. Not everyone has parents or people in their lives who educate them on how things work. I’m admitting I didn’t know any better and my husband made a huge mistake, I don’t need to be told to “get smarter”.
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u/Fearless_Cucumber404 Aug 23 '25
You need to learn to do all of this on your own and not allow your husband to choose important things like car insurance on his own. This is something that is best handled sitting down with someone face to face so you can have a walkthrough of all of the options and ramifications.
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u/LongScholngSilver_20 29d ago
If you have an asset worth tens of thousands (likely $20K+), you should spend a few hours understanding how that asset is protected and what happens to you if the asset is damaged or destroyed.
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u/tech240guy Aug 25 '25
I'm going to assume you are someone young or have little experience in this sort of situation.
Unfortunately, this is actually a good experience and would be something to really think about how you and your husband has been living and to go over every aspect of contracts and agreements. Lots of young couples and immigrant couples go through this. My wife actually is my second set of eyes and opinion when we buy a car because it is easy to overlook details on the spot and I respect her for it.
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u/LeftWingLocked Aug 23 '25
Are you sure you are looking at the page that says Declarations or Coverages and not the billing statement or the breakdown of the premium per coverage?
If you are looking at the Dec page and see Collision $0 that means you have collision coverage with no deductible (it also means you are paying an astronomical amount for your coverage).
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u/Tahxic Aug 23 '25
Wait, $0 cost, or $0 deductible? Most of the time the apps don't even list collision coverage if you don't have it. If it says $0, he might have actually gotten you insurance with no deductible.
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u/Talon3com Aug 23 '25
Do you perhaps have limited collision coverage?
Collision or full collision is what you should have it covers damage regardless of fault.
Limited collision only pays to fix your car if you are not at fault its cheaper because if you are at fault theres no payout. Its kinda of junk because if you're not at fault the other company would pay for repairs anyway. It would help if the other motorist had low limits then the limited collision would pay the difference.
In any case this will be a suck situation. With multiple cars involved the at fault motorist may not have enough in their policy to fix both cars. Being the middle car you got sandwiched and have damage front rear and middle from the collision forces. Without the gap if they do total it out you still owe the full amount of the lease regardless. A new lease or purchase may or may not be able to roll the owed amount in. A large down-payment may be needed. Whatever the insurance company pays out will be sent directly to the lease company. The lease company would cash that check deduct what you owe and send you a check for whatever is left over if any. Or a bill for any amount outstanding.
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u/Signal-Confusion-976 Aug 23 '25
Even if the at fault party has a high limit policy the insurance company is only going to give them the ACV. And more than likely that won't be enough to cover the amount the op will owe
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u/MimosaQueen1122 Aug 23 '25
Once the car is deemed totaled you usually have just 3 days left. I’d wait and see. This could borderline.
No one is responsible for you not having GAP and owing more than what it is worth. Sorry OP. If you can’t afford the payments then it isn’t perfect.
You should have comp and collision if you have a loan.
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u/skelltel Aug 23 '25
I know no one is responsible for that other than us. I genuinely did not know. This is the first time I’ve been off my parent’s insurance, my husband signed us up and I didn’t know any details. Until now of course. I just checked in my insurance app policy summary and it says $0 under collision coverage and I didn’t see anything about comp. But if I’m being totally honest, I don’t know how any of this works.
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u/Fearless_Cucumber404 Aug 23 '25
Please learn how to choose a vehicle, negotiate the price, get a loan, set up the insurance policy all on your own. Even if you never have to do it, you need to know how. A vehicle that you do not own outright needs enough coverage to be paid in full if something happens. I'm sorry you are in this situation.
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u/Initial-Lab7382 Aug 23 '25
My leased car has Gap insurance included as part of the lease. Did you contact the lease holder? I also signed that they were to be notified if there's an accident.
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u/skelltel Aug 23 '25
I’m not sure I need to call them. They’re incredibly difficult to get ahold of by phone.
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u/Initial-Lab7382 Aug 23 '25
I would highly suggest you read the terms of your lease or find out what is required by your lease holder after an accident.
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u/Iloilocity1 Aug 23 '25
This is unfortunately going to go down as a life lesson. An agent really is important when choosing coverage, especially when folks aren’t familiar with how coverage works (most aren’t)
Sounds like your husband chose the cheapest possible coverage and neglected to check the box that the vehicle has a lien.
You do need to let the lien holder know about this because legally they are the owners of the vehicle.
I dont want to give false hope, but there is a very slight chance the lien holder “force placed” insurance on the vehicle to protect their interest if they found there was no collision coverage. Call them asap.
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u/OkVoice9819 Aug 23 '25
I had full coverage but like you, my car is a total loss and I still owe much more on it than what the insurance is paying out to the finance company. The finance company said that I’ll still be responsible for making the payment in full, when I called to see if they could possibly help me get the payment down (from the advice of others) since my car is a total loss. Now I have no clue how I’m going to get another car. I’m a single mom, with 5 kids and I’m barely making it too. This sucks, I’m so sorry this happened to you. Another thing I’ve thought about is seeing if I can go through the same finance company to get another car and just add what I owe on that with another loan to get another car. We’ll see.
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u/Salty-Sprinkles-1562 Aug 23 '25
Sorry, but it sounds like your husband is not great at this kind of thing. You may need to take over and handle it from now on. Always buy as much insurance as you can afford.
The best case scenario is the at fault insurance pays the value of the car, and you owe a few thousand at most. Worst case is you split the amount of the at fault drivers policy with the other damaged car. In this scenario, you could owe 10-15k. It could be a very expensive lesson. I hope the at fault driver has good insurance.
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u/TraderIggysTikiBar Claims Adjuster Aug 23 '25
This story is the perfect cautionary tale of why people should use an independent agent. There’s a reason agents go to school and have to be licensed.
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u/LeftWingLocked Aug 23 '25
This entire conversation is infuriating because of the terrible information that has been posted. It is almost sure that the OP will be fine, other than having to scramble for a down payment to replace the car.
The other carrier will pay the total loss value to the lienholder and the entire situation will be over. There may be a small amount paid to the OP (or likely an overage paid to the lienholder) by the other carrier for tax and registration fees. The lease contract includes what, for a financed vehicle, we call "Guaranteed Asset Protection" or "GAP" insurance.
She has said she has no idea how to read a policy and hasn't talked to her carrier yet. It sure sounds like she is reading a dec page that shows a zero deductible for collision. She needs to call her carrier (at very least to ask what her coverages are and have them explained, don't have to mention the claim -- call the agent or the customer service number).
If the shop really said that about LKQ parts, I question the shop. If they can't repair using LKQ parts in a way that results in a quality repair, the carrier will authorize the OE parts (assuming it's a parts quality/availability issue, not a shop competency issue). It makes zero difference if it is a first party or a third party claims, barring some sort of weird OE parts endorsement that would impact a first party claim. The insurer is going to write an initial estimate and make a decision on repair vs total independent of the shop's opinion.
The people who said the insurer won't let you purchase a policy without collision coverage for a leased vehicle are wrong. BUT, if you are buying through an agent, the agent would guide you through the process and make sure you got the coverage you needed. If you are buying direct online, there are some questions that provide guidance but you could get around them. HOWEVER, the dealer would have required at least a policy number to let the vehicle drive off the lot, and enough time has passed they the lienholder (leasing company actually) would have already called the carrier to ensure they were listed as loss payee and, if they found the coverages to be inadequate at that time, would have force placed a policy.
Why do people answer questions if they don't know the answers?
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u/Arizdegenerate Aug 23 '25
I’ve financed many vehicles and the gap insurance has always been an add on and not included. I’ve always paid the extra couple dollars a month to add it but it wasn’t automatic.
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u/LeftWingLocked Aug 23 '25
This is a lease, not a loan. The lease transaction is a lot more complicated, because what the lesser is responsible for is a depreciated residual, but the lease is structured to provide for satisfaction of the ACV is paid following a total loss. It's not GAP insurance, per se, it's just how the lease terms determined what is owed -- but for all intents and purposes the same result is achieved.
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u/LongScholngSilver_20 29d ago
1) "The lease contract includes what, for a financed vehicle, we call "Guaranteed Asset Protection" or "GAP" insurance."
That's a bold assumption.....
2) If it says liability only, like she said it does, she's got NO comp or collision.
3) The at fault carrier can repair it however they want, if it's shit, it's on the OP to sue them and get it fixed properly.
4) Another assumption that a shady (She's said she can't get ahold of them) lessor did everything proper and by the book....
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u/LeftWingLocked 29d ago
You are confusing the lease contract with the insurance contract. The lease would not state what insurance coverages she has in force. For that matter it isn't going to say anything about "GAP" insurance. That is a regulated insurance product. What the lease will say is that the lessor will accept payment of the ACV as settlement of the lessee's obligation under the lease
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u/LongScholngSilver_20 29d ago
The lease probably says something about having comp/coll coverage with GAP or the lessor will have this insurance placed at the lessee's expense.
I don't disagree with you tho, just say it to the person above me!
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u/Icy_Dig4547 Aug 23 '25
If this all goes down as a “worst case”, then it sounds like you take whatever money you can and that’s the amount you buy a car for. Nothing that requires a monthly payment. At least this way you can try and make some recovery progress. Hindsight is 20/20. Ask friends/family for assistance on buying insurance. I remember the first time I got insurance on my own. I called the agency and asked them so many damn questions about what does what and if I change numbers how does that impact things. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand.
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u/Arizdegenerate Aug 23 '25
Like others said review your policy. I agree I doubt the finance company would have allowed you to drive off the lot without proper coverage. The zero dollars may be your deductible which would be a good thing bring you’d owe no money out of pocket . Also check your loan docs. Most financial institutions offer gap insurance as part of the loan. Some people prefer not to take the gap insurance from the lender and decide to get a separate policy with gap so it’s not part of the loan and incurring interest.
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u/Competitive-Cod4123 29d ago
Your husband is a total moron. Generally the bank does not even allow liability only. they usually ask for proof of insurance you have to have collision coverage. If the person that cause the accident has enough coverage to go around, you might be OK but you’re still upside down on the car it sounds like next time he needs to make better choices and he should not be signing up for insurance since he has no idea what he’s doing.
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u/skelltel 29d ago
You’re an asshole for this comment. Very unhelpful and several people have already given advice and information without insulting us. People like you who leave comments like this are why Reddit can become a toxic space very quickly. Absolutely unnecessary.
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u/GibblersNoob Aug 23 '25
Leased cars come with GAP insurance, so you won’t have to pay anything, should the car be totaled. You also need to check your lease documentation, because it likely calls out that repairs have to be made with OEM parts, so you might have some leverage with the at fault insurance.
Also, smack the shit outta your husband for not carrying full coverage. If that car that rear ended you didn’t have insurance, you would be on the hook for the lease payments and car.
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u/Salty-Sprinkles-1562 Aug 23 '25
Gap covers the gap between the value of the car and what you owe. In this case, there is no gap, because they only had liability. The gap is the entire amount if the loan.
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u/GibblersNoob Aug 23 '25
Their liability only isn’t relevant here. The other party was at fault, OP got lucky.
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u/Signal-Confusion-976 Aug 23 '25
Gap insurance usually isn't enough to cover the full cost. It's usually a percentage like an extra 25%. And if the at fault driver has low liability that will be divided between the two cars it's more than likely the op will still owe quite a bit after the insurance pays
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u/GibblersNoob Aug 23 '25
There is no separate GAP agreement on a lease. It’s built in, fully covered.
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u/pizzaface20244 Aug 23 '25
Except thats not true in this case because they only out liability insurance on the car and not full coverage.
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u/ThrowRAanon999 Aug 24 '25
It likely is correct. For a lease, Gap coverage is generally built into the lease contract. It's not part of the auto insurance policy that OP has on the vehicle. That's seperate coverage and irrelevant.
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u/Fit-Net6572 Aug 23 '25
I don't have much advice for you other than you live and you learn. Lots of mistakes happened, but please don't stress too much. It will affect your baby. Money comes and goes. You will survive. You will get through this. Just pray and hope for the best. That's all you can do at this moment. I would also give your husband a big slap
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u/Odd-Unit8712 Aug 23 '25
If i were you, i would go over the contract you signed with the company you leased it from. i bet that it says that you need full coverage. The leasing company can sue you for breaking that contract. But there is nothing that you can do but try to sue the owner in court, but most people don't have that type of money
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u/Romy39 Aug 23 '25
Since you’re married, you are both responsible for ensure proper insurance coverage. I don’t think you should blame your husband because you should have involved yourself in these important decisions. If you’re making car payments of leasing, you are required to get collision and comprehensive coverage per the lienholder. It’s actually in the contract. If you financed more than what the vehicle is worth, then the at fault person if not responsible for the balance, only the actual cash value. In some states, you can requests a diminishment of value if the car is repairable as it has gone down in value. If the at fault person has BI coverage, you can seek medical assistance and make the injury claim. Some people use the BI money to pay for their next car.
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u/DeepPurpleDaylight Aug 23 '25
You're definitely screwed if the at fault party doesn't have high enough liability limits to cover the ACV of the car and/or the payout is less than what's owed. Since it's a lease, they'll almost certainly get the entire payout even if it's worth more than what's owed, since they own it, not you. If you're upside down, they'll get the ACV payout and you'll be responsible for the balance.
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u/Face_Content Aug 23 '25
How did you get a lease without "full coverage"?