A year ago i was involved in an accident. The other parties insurance company totaled my motorcycle, allowed me to keep it, and paid me directly for it. At the time i was pretty hard up for money, so i decided to continue making payments to the lien holder and used the check from the insurance company to get caught up on other bills.
I repaired the machine and attempted to re register it as a salvaged vehicle. I was unable to do so without the title. The lien holder refuses to allow the salvage notation be made to the title. Now my registration has expired without chance for renewal. Dmv wont allow me to renew or re-register the machine without the title. Unfortunately i still owe around 2250 on it, which is money i just dont have at the moment.
It seems im being forced to apply for non operational status and it sits until i pay it off. Anyone know a way around this? Not looking forward to going back to spending two hours a day on the bus.
Different state could let you register.
What you did was a crime. Lucky they dont prosecute you for insurance fraud.
Your bike is not yours till you have the title. You had to have the lein holder be the first to get compensation for its loss. And of course the lein holder does not want the peice of paper they hold as collateral greatly diminish in value. DMV in your state has it as a totalled vehicle and wont allow it to walk past without stamping it.
I have dealt with a similar situation having bought a bike that someone had on a personal loan. It was a rotten POS but the bank wanted 1000 bucks to release it.
Cool.
Buddha.
Seems everyone i ask is also just as confused as i am as to why the persons insurance company paid me instead of the lean holder. Never been through this before so i had no idea how to deal with it, nor did i predict having this trouble a year later. Last time i was at dmv trying to get it worked out they told me my current registration was still valid, and gave me my plates back after i tried to turn them in to re register..
Whole situation is just funky.
You should have planned on the bike having a salvage title in your estimate of what the damage would have been. You may have saved them a lot of $ and screwed yourself out of a viable way to use this bike by now.
I'd definetly suggest getting it titled/registered in another state and run and pay off and you have a clean title bike.
DMV's operate very nuclear, the insurance companies usually also do the paperwork for the state its occoured in only.
Cool.
Buddha.
Just milled through my paperwork from the incident. I dont see anything noted stating that i was to send the money to the lien holder. Checks were also made out with only my name on them, not the lien holder.
Registering in another state just seems a bit wild.
Dude lein holder has primary rights on it no matter what the paperwork says.
It actually may have been illegal for that insurance company to pay you off unless it was all for personal injury.
Cool.
Buddha.
Company wrote one check for 500 for personal injury, another for 3500 for the bike. Both made out to me alone.
Well thats that. I screwed myself. Wish i had known better.
Screw it. Taking out a small personal loan from citibank to bail myself out. Ill pay off the bike friday morning, and give those jerks an extra 20 bucks to express the title over to me. Ive already paid all the fees and finished all the paperwork at the dmv from trying to reregister in the past. Just gotta show up with the title and im done.
Paying off the loan sounds like your only option, so it sounds as though you're headed in the right direction. Let us know how everything works out.
It really is amazing that they sent you the check. When someone nailed me on the freeway, my insurance company kept trying to get the account number of my lienholder, because they wanted to total my bike and send the check to the finance company. I refused to give them the info, and I fought like a mad woman and finally got them to NOT total my bike, send me the check, and I fixed my bike for a LOT less. There was absolutely NO way they were sending me a dime if my bike was totaled.
Being short of cash can sometimes cause us to make not-so-great decisions. It sounds like the turkey who hit you got off VERY easily. :icon_neutral:
I was lucky. I hope things work out well and quickly for you! :thumb:
Thanks!
I felt clueless and left in the dark for the entire process.
Only other accident ive been in was 15 years ago when i was on my parents insurance, and i didnt have to deal with any of it. This whole process was new to me. After hours of searching online, i cant find others in the same situation, which tells me just how odd it was that the insurance company paid me and not the lien holder.
Live and learn i guess.
On the plus side, im taking out a loan thats large enough to pay off the bike and both my credit cards. If im going through the hassle, i might as well consolidate, write a single check a month, and walk away debt free.
"debt free" ... except for that loan.
Anyway, sounds like consolidation is a smart move and you get out from under the insurance mess. What a PITA.
:cool:
Take the $ from the first ins co and call it in stolen the next week.
That way your insurance pays off the loan, and a week after that you can call it in found ...
It will that time be salvage for sure, but you've paid it off and kept the first $ ...
Cool.
Buddha.