I’m in the process of transferring my Audi to another party. If they get into an accident, can the other party involved in the accident come after me since my name is still on the policy? Thanks!
Short and simple ,yup.
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Do you have sourcing for this?
I imagine the insurance companies go after all parties involved in the accident.
Source: I’ve been in an accident where the insurance companies sued all parties involved and I was driving my parents car. They were never listed as defendants in the case despite having their names on the finance contract.
Generally, the purpose of you remaining responsible for the lease is in case the person you transferred to stopped paying, then Audi Financial would come to you for the money. It’s about mitigating risk on the banks behalf.
Pretty simple for me,
My nephew was in an accident. A small $1000 fender bender
They sued :
Him,
His Mom who was listed on the Registration (Which OP should be since it’s not a true swap)
His StepDad who was listed living in the same house as his insurance papers. (Not on the StepDad’s but same address).
Since OP didn’t really transfer the document, then he/she is still listed on the car. the part of (My name is still on the policy bit)
Small time accidents, nah, nothing to worry about, but if that car killed someone, yes OP is going to get sued.
Now if the swap removes liability from OP, then no, but their post said they were listed so I’ll go with that.
Edit : I forgot to mention that they sued for $100k based on the fact that the $1000 fender bender caused ‘catastrophic’ harm to the lady he hit and her ‘future generations’.
May I point out this was a 25mph hit?
Unless you have endless money, transferring an Audi is a very risky thing to do.
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OP, you need to clarify this with Audi.
While you will still be liable via Audi Financial if the new leasee fails to make their payments, your name should no longer be on the registration or insurance or anything like that.
A very similar question could be: If you co-sign on a car loan and that person gets in a wreck, can they come after you? My understanding is that transferring an Audi lease is very much similar to co-signing on an auto loan.
Cosign an autoloan? Oh yes you can be sued.
Anybody can sue anybody in the USA. Period. I would like to think that financial and criminal liability would be different. i.e. if your transferee fails to pay, you are liable but if he kills somebody, you are not. (edit: as long as you are not on the insurance policy and the registration) Would be nice to hear from someone who knows the law or precedent though.
OK, sure, anyone can sue anyone for anything these days.
But there’s a big difference between that and actually winning said lawsuit and being found liable for damages in the case of an accident.
While I am in no way shape or form an attorney, everything I’ve seen over a quick 10 min cursory internet search says you’re generally not liable as a co-signer as long as your name is not on the registration/title.
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But defendants have to spend money just to not be held liable. Good lawyers’ hours add up quick.
But why are we even discussing this? There’s a million reasons why transferring a lease without completely removing yourself is a bad idea.
Say you dodged one bullet, what about the rest?
Missed payments are chump change compared to a second lessee who lets his insurance lapse and then totals the car.