Sale Location: Missouri, USA
Crash Location: Illinois, USA
Current Location: Virginia, USA
Sorry in advance for how messy this is about to get.
Early in 2024 I sold a car to Carvana for $500 in MISSOURI. I have a copy of the signed purchase agreement from Carvana. I have badgered them for a bill of sale but they are insistent that the purchase agreement is sufficient. I also signed a limited power of attorney to Carvana for them to complete the transaction. I do not remember with 100% clarity if I notified the DMV of the sale and they haven’t answered my calls today, so for the sake of this post let’s assume that I did not notify them. My bad here. It has been almost a year and a half since the sale so I’m honestly very foggy on all of the details.
Flash forward to summer 2024, I relocate to VIRGINIA.
Flash forward to last week, I get a letter in the mail from Allstate seeking $5k in subrogation damages because the new driver of the car was in an accident in ILLINOIS and didn’t have insurance. I get my insurance company involved and sent all paperwork from Carvana documenting the sale. They investigate, and it has reached the point where they claim that all that is needed to shut down the investigation is a bill of sale. Again, Carvana insists that the purchase agreement is sufficient for this purpose, and that the purchase agreement is the equivalent of the bill of sale when notifying the DMV as well. So getting an official bill of sale from them might not be possible, and if I did notify the DMV then it was likely just with the purchase agreement as proof of the sale.
Assuming a worst-case scenario where I did not inform the DMV, I’m not able to find a bill of sale, and Allstate continues to pursue me for the payment, would it be worthwhile to hire a lawyer to argue that I have no liability because I have the sale documents? Or would not notifying the DMV completely screw me over, even though I have the proof of the sale? If it does get to this point, what state would I need to find a lawyer in? Missouri (sale location), Illinois (crash location), or Virginia (my current residence)?
Comments
Let your insurance handle it. They are required to defend you.
I mean a purchase agreement is pretty much the same as a bill of sale the same way it’s the same as an invoice. If it’s signed and says that you were paid for the car it’s the same thing as it’s just a document stating you told the car to someone and they paid you.
NAL
The current insurance company has no involvement here.
The prior insurance company has no liability here since the car was sold and the policy cancelled.
OP, what is your hang-up on providing the PA to Allstate? It feels like you are overthinking the BOS/PA situation here.
Any paperwork showing that you sold the car should suffice to keep Allstate away.
It might help further to show the sale history via: