Auto Recycling & Insurance News
Auto Recycling & Insurance News
Our first part of this news compilation involves a crafty guy in Pennsylvania who wrecked his car. Here at Cleveland Scrap Cars we regularly encounter vehicle owners with late model cars, trucks, vans and SUV’s who allow their auto insurance to lapse and end up having to sell the “remains” of their cars for cash to a scrap car hauler (like us) after an accident. Often the driver will experience remorse relating to their failure of maintaining collision coverage after they are faced with having to junk cars for cash. Well the gentleman in the following article decided to outsmart the system. An AP story from 6abc.com titled ‘Man accused of buying auto insurance from scene of car wreck’ posted on March 6, 2015 tells a story about a crafty uninsured motorist as follows: “Authorities say a PA man called an insurance company from a crash scene to buy auto coverage & later claimed his wreck happened after he got the policy. The Altoona Mirror reports that the insurance fraud charges filed against Michael Traveny stem from a crash in Duncansville. Prosecutors say Traveny didn’t have insurance when he crashed that night so he called Safe Auto Insurance from the scene & purchased coverage without mentioning the wreck. Prosecutors say he filed a $3,900 claim the next day claiming the crash happened after the policy took effect. Online court records don’t list an attorney for Traveny. He faces a preliminary hearing March 17.” The complete article is available at 6abc.com
Scrap Car Spill
Scrap car haulers and others in the junk cars for cash business will transport large quantities of recently scrapped cars. One such load of cars for cash in Maine was apparently not safely secured for transport and three of these scrap auto bodies ended up littering a highway. A March 6, 2015 article by Liz Markhlevskaya on fosters.com titled ‘Company cited after 3 crushed vehicles fall off truck’ tells this story: “Police cited a vehicle recycling business from Rochester in connection with a crash in Portland, ME in which 3 crushed vehicles fell onto the highway. Lambert’s Auto Recyclers of Rochester was cited after the crash, which littered the highway with debris from the 3 vehicles that fell. Police reported no injuries. The accident happened on Interstate 295 in Portland, near Tukey’s Bridge, according to Maine State Police.
State troopers said that 15 crushed cars were being delivered to a Topsham, Maine, recycling plant when a cable broke on the trailer, sending 3 of the cars into 2 northbound lanes on the 4-lane highway. Jason Fisher, 30, of Rochester, who was the driver of the trailer, was able to secure the remaining 12 crushed vehicles and continued on his way to deliver the load. The three cars that fell off the trailer were towed. Fisher & Lambert’s Auto Recyclers received police summonses in connection to the incident.”
Selling cars for cash that are less than a few years is really a shame. To junk cars for cash that are over 10-years old is one thing—but a 2010 model is far too new of a vehicle to give away to a scrap car hauler. The worst case scenario is when the vehicle owner lacks collision coverage when totaling the car and still owes the lender a large balance of the auto loan. Here is typically the chain of events that leads to this difficult outcome: 1) An individual needs a vehicle and narrowly is approved for an auto loan with a high interest rate. 2) Due to a lack of savings or life changes, such as unemployment, the auto insurance policy lapses (the lender is unaware) 3) The vehicle is wrecked or needs costly repair work. You can clearly see how this story ends…