Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Yes Honda sure can, particularly since your financing papers probably required you to carry collision insurance on your car, not just liability, which would have paid them off. It's also up to you, not the DMV or insurance company to take care of the paperwork with them. If you have liability insurance, that should cover the pole.

I empathize with you. Your roommate has put you in a very difficult spot. And I understand why it seems unfair that you must keep paying for a car you no longer have. But Mr. McCormick is right. Your contract with Honda says they will lend you money and you will pay it back. It surely does not say you'll be excused from paying if the car is destroyed, lost, stolen, etc.

Your monthly payments aren't really for the car. They're for the loan that enabled you to buy it. Just as the dealer wouldn't owe you a refund if you'd paid cash, the lender doesn't have to excuse the rest of your debt. That the lender and dealer are both under the Honda name doesn't really matter.

If Honda had to absorb the loss it would be your insurer as well as your lender. But it didn't agree to give you insurance, and you didn't pay it to do so. Your payments were only for the loan. Honda kept its end of the bargain by lending you the money, and your duty to pay the money back remains in place.

You could have bought insurance that would pay the fair value of your car if it was totaled; indeed, the loan contract probably required you to do so. For a higher premium, you could have bought insurance that would have paid off the entire loan. It sounds like you didn't do either of these things. If you didn't pay an insurance company to protect you, there is no good reason to make the lender protect you for free.

Your roommate is probably liable to you for the loss of your car. She's also probably liable to your insurance company for the money it paid out due to the accident. I don't know whether the insurer will sue her, or whether it would make sense for you to do so. That will depend on her financial condition, her earning potential, etc. But it's something to keep in mind.

Depending on your circumstances, you may want to consider bankruptcy. Your debt to Honda sounds like it would be dischargeable, assuming that you qualify. The same could be true of a variety of other debts, whether they relate to this accident or not. (Bear in mind that any claim you might have against your roommate would belong to the bankruptcy estate, and that whether to pursue her would be up to the trustee.) You should consult with a bankruptcy lawyer if you think this is a sensible option for you.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.