Legal Question in Insurance Law in California

Re: Car Accident

It sounds as though your girlfriend may be getting sued by the other party's insurance company after they paid a claim made by that other person on the insurance policy that they themselves took out. If the other party had insurance and had paid for a particular type of coverage called "uninsured motorist," then their own insurance would have paid for their property damage, bodily injury, pain and suffering in the event that they were able to convince their insurance company that some uninsured driver (your girlfriend) was at fault for the accident.

The fact that a police report states that your girlfriend wasn't at fault (which I find odd insofar as the police report form used by almost all cities and the state only has a box for stating which party, if any, was primarily responsible for the collision--the report is usually silent as to those parties that the officer believed had no fault for the accident).

If it is the other party's insurance company suing your girlfriend, then she is not in a good position. If she does not defend the suit adequately, the insurance company will get a judgment against her and seek to collect it for years, with interest.

As for your liability, although the registered owner of a car is liable for any injuries or damages caused by anyone else who is driving the car with their permision, the amount for which the owner can be held responsible is capped at $15,000.00 and it only applies to the registered owner of record, not to any co-signors on the loan or other friends who might, morally speaking, own part of the car because they helped to pay for it.

Re: Car Accident

You are not a viable defendant. She can't be sued for not having insurance. The police report is not controlling on fault. If a judgment is entered against her, she has certain rights against collections. You need to have her sit down with an attorney to survey the situation.