GEICO Claims My Husband Hit a Car in My Hyundai Santa Fe in NY, But We Sold It 6 Months Ago for Parts, and We Live in Ohio - Is It Insurance Fraud?

Kim and her husband, who live in eastern Ohio, received a claim on their insurance for an accident in Jamaica, New York.

That's over 500 miles away, and they have not been in New York for over twenty years.

It all started when Kim and her husband sold a 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe for parts to an auto repair shop because the transmission had died. The shop also sells some of the cars after they've been repaired, which is what they did with Kim's old Santa Fe. 

They then purchased a Chevrolet Traverse to replace their Santa Fe. 

Months later, Kim tells the story of how she received an email that she wasn't sure was fraudulent or not, but decided to follow up just in case it was legitimate. 

It's a good thing she did.

The email said that her husband was in an accident in Jamaica, New York, and had hit two cars, and the owner of one of the cars that was hit had filed a claim against them with her insurance company, GEICO, to pay for the damages. 

The only problem is that they have not been in New York, and her husband was not driving her car on the date of the accident. 

The story takes a turn and becomes stranger from here. 

GEICO claims that her husband was driving the Chevrolet Traverse, which they had purchased after selling the Hyundai Santa Fe for parts. 

Now, Kim and her husband think that GEICO is trying to pull a fast one and get them to pay for an accident her husband was not involved in. 

Somehow, GEICO traced the Hyundai Santa Fe back to Kim and her husband, saw they had a different car, and assigned the claim to the Traverse. 

Now, Kim must try to prove that her husband was not in New York and that he was not even driving her Chevy Traverse.

Kim (@tryingtofigureoutlife02) shared her story in her TikTok video.  

She says, 

My husband and I feel deeply wronged by GEICO's attempt to commit insurance fraud against us, especially considering we are not their customers. We owned a 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe that we sold as a parts car because the transmission was faulty and the starter had failed. 

On April 1, I received an email from our insurance company stating that an adjustor had been assigned to our claim. I was utterly confused, thinking it was a scam email.

How could this be happening, she says, bewildered? 

I visited my insurance company's website, logged in to my account, and saw that there was a claim on our insurance policy stating that my husband, who drives my 2013 Chevy Traverse almost exclusively, had hit two parked cars in Jamaica, New York.

We currently reside in eastern Ohio. 

They were saying that he had done this on March 25. So, on that day, I had my Traverse, the car had not been wrecked, and my husband and I had not been in New York in twenty years. 

The next day, I received a call from our insurance company, and they wanted to speak with my husband because he was listed as the driver in the accident. 

So, I explained to the gentleman that this was a fraudulent claim because we had not been in New York, our car was not wrecked, and my husband did not have possession of the vehicle that day. 

Our insurance agent interviewed both of us; we explained everything and asked about the prior cars we had owned, as well as whether we had left any personal items in the vehicle, such as insurance information. I know that I cleaned the car thoroughly because I'm very meticulous about cleaning my cars.

Next, we sent photos of both our vehicles, as my husband has a truck, to show that neither of our cars has been involved in an accident. We also downloaded our Ring video footage, which shows that we were in Ohio on the day the accident is said to have occurred and that my husband was not driving my car.

On Friday, we received a call from our insurance agent, who informed us that the claim was actually against our Hyundai Santa Fe, which we had sold in October. He said someone was driving our old car, ran a stop sign, and hit two parked cars in New York. 

I have documentation of when we sold the car and the seller agreement, so I sent all that to our insurance company. He told me we needed to keep this information because the lady in New York, whose car was hit, could come back and sue us for the damages.

He provided us with the contact information and the claim number from GEICO, as the lady's car that was hit had filed the claim with her insurance, which is GEICO. 

My husband called GEICO, and they claimed that it was his car, that the license plates were registered in our name, and that we were listed as the owners. But GEICO insisted that it was my husband who hit their customer's car.

Next, we presented GEICO with a CarFax report indicating that the Hyundai Santa Fe was sold, registered, and titled to an individual in Pennsylvania on December 16, 2024.  

To sum it all up, GEICO must have obtained our name from the old Hyundai Santa Fe, which was sold as a parts car, and then filed a claim with our insurance company, stating that it was our Chevrolet Traverse that hit the lady's car.  

In another TikTok clip, Kim says, We filed a complaint with the New York State Insurance Commissioner, and we are trying to get this resolved.' We now know that GEICO was not trying to commit insurance fraud on us; it was due to a mix-up in the registration when we sold the Santa Fe.

Update from Kim: GEICO is removing my husband from the claim, so the case is being resolved. 

Kim's Insurance company did nothing to help her.

I'm deeply disappointed with my insurance company because they haven't taken any action to help us with this problem. Due to the way we were treated throughout this process, I will be changing insurance companies at renewal.

Now, you can imagine how many hours Kim and her husband have spent resolving this insurance issue. 

It can happen to anyone who sells a car, as well as to anyone with car insurance. Therefore, please be careful when selling a used vehicle and make sure that your car insurance company and the county where your car license is registered are notified that it has been sold and is no longer in your possession. 

How About You?

Let us know if you have been involved in a car insurance issue similar to Kim and her husband's. Click the red Add New Comment link below and let us know.

Check out my car insurance story: The Insurance Co Totaled My 2021 Toyota C-HR with 29K Miles, I Only Had 2 Payments Left, and I Took the Payout, Now I’m Questioning My Decision

I am Denis Flierl, a Senior Torque News Reporter since 2012. My 30+ year tenure in the automotive industry, initially in a consulting role with every major car brand and later as a freelance journalist test-driving new vehicles, has equipped me with a wealth of knowledge. I specialize in reporting the latest automotive news and providing expert analysis on Subaru, which you'll find here, ensuring that you, as a reader, are always well-informed and up-to-date. Follow me on my X SubaruReport, All Subaru, WRXSTI, @DenisFlierl, Facebook, and Instagram.

Photo credit: Denis Flierl via Kim