Q: Currently on deployment so I left my vehicle back in the states with a buddy. Another service member who I have let use
My vehicle before got ahold of my keys from 9my buddy and was using my vehicle almost every day. Im still paying on the vehicle with a loan through my credit union. The guy flipped my vehicle and decided to leave it where it was never told me about it. I learned of this information from my Higher Ups. I was told since he didn't have a power of attorney to drive my vehicle it would be considered grand theft auto and i could press charges? I also tried logging into my insurance online and found out for the past 3 weeks it's been cancelled cause they didn't withdraw the money out of my account. So at the time of the accident I had no insurance. What will happen? Can I press charges and get money from the guy who wrecked it to pay my loan off?
A:
It's a multi-part question:
1) If you didn't pay your insurance bill, then yes, you were uninsured at the time of the accident and they would not directly pay you to replace the totaled vehicle.
2) Yes, you can hire a personal injury attorney and sue your buddy for the damages and losses related to your vehicle. The attorney would likely collect a portion of the judgment, and you would get the remainder.
3) Yes, you can file a police report, explain you were on deployment when this occurred, and hope they press charges against him. But that criminal process will be separate from the civil suit to get money back.
Good luck.
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