Name forged on insurance check

[bamagirl68]

I live in Alabama. We have just learned that an insurance check (from an accident for $2,000.00) from a large ins. company was mailed to my husband at his ex-wife's address. He has never lived at that address. The insurance company tells us the check was signed in his name and cashed. She says she has never seen the check and maybe one of her boyfriends at the time got it and cashed it.Or that she may have thrown it away and someone got it from her trash. Would ID or even a 10 day deposit hold not have been required in cashing a check for this amount? How do we find out who actually signed it or whose account it was deposited into? I will be picking up a copy of the check (front and back) from the ins. co. in a couple of days. She wants a copy of the check. I say if her name is not on the payee line, she has no right to a copy. I am not comfortable with her seeing the signature. We plan to pursue this legally but where do we go from here?

 

[presutin]

You should pursue this legally so hire a good attorney to put the case together for you. Hope this helps!

 

[bamagirl68]

thanks! we do plan to, just wondering if anyone thinks in the long run it will be a waste of time and money or there is an actual possibility of finding out who did it. And I really need advice quick about whether she should receive or even be allowed to see the copy. If she was not involved and her name isn't on the check, why would she even care to see it?

 

[presutin]

You and your attorney will eventually have to provide copies of what you have so, if she asks you again for it, you should tell her that you will be sharing that information with her attorney. Good Luck!

 

[PILawGirl]

Get a copy of the check and go from there. The copy of the cashed check that the insurance company has should tell you just about everything you need to know.

If it was a settlement check and it was only for 2k I don't really see a need to get a lawyer involved, if you can prove it was your husbands ex who cashed it and the check was not made out to her you can report her to the police. It can also be settled in small claims court.

Also, if this was a fraud issue and you can prove your husband never lived at the address the insurance company should make good on the check and give a new one.

Just out of curiosity...was it for a bodily injury settlement or a property damage settlement? Was the policy ever in the ex-wife's name?

 

[bamagirl68]

My stepson was in an accident and the check was from the driver's insurance company to cover his medical bills. His bill was over $4,000.00 for xrays and an overnight observation stay! He had a bruised chin from the airbag. We think the hospital is the reason for the address mix up. Last year when we first discovered this bill, we found out they had his(my husbands) address listed as hers we informed the hospital that he had NEVER lived there and provided them with his correct address. To this day we have still never received a hospital bill. My husband had lived here at our address for 11 years and never at the address of his ex. After never receiving a bill last year when we tried to get it straightened out, we assumed it had been taken care of by the ins. The accident was in 2003! Hopefully the check was deposited into someone's account. We will know more once we actually see the check.

 

[lwpat]

I agree with not enough involved to hire an attorney. Get the check and file a police report. Then send the information to the insurance company CRRR requesting that they issue you a new check. I doubt that there is anything you or the police can do at this late date other than file the report because of the SOL but that depends on the date the check was cashed, not when the accident happened.

The other question is why you failed to follow up on the claim?

 

[Duranie]

I would be complaining to the bank too to find out why they allowed the deposit or the cashing of a check that did not belong to the person cashing it. If your husband still has a bank account with his ex, then that is probably why it got deposited.

Checks for 2k are often not held, bit it depends of the casher has accounts in good standing. I have had my bank account for 15 years, I never get any checks held.