guy help: I was in a car accident with an uninsured motorist. - Help.com

I was in a car accident with an uninsured motorist.

The guy hit my daughter’s car from behind and pushed my daughters car into the car in front of us. There was very little to no damage to the car in front of us. There is about $2,000 damage to my daughter’s car. The guy behind us was charged with failure to stop at a safe distance. He gave the police his insurance card but it turns out that his insurance was canceled back in June due to non-payment. I have since notified the police that he does not have insurance and I do believe they intent to issue him a citation for that.

My problem is, both my daughter and I sustained minor injuries in the accident, so there are medical bills. My daughter only has liability insurance that does have uninsured motorist coverage for medical but not for her car. Her insurance company will pay up to $2000 (combined) on the medical bills but will not cover any of the damage to her car.

I have talked to the responsible party and he says he wants to pay for the damage but has to make payments. I researched his court records and he does have a judgment against him in small claims from 2004 and he has not made any payments on that claim (though he has had no problem forking up the cash for bond for his buddies in jail). After talking to the guy, it’s apparent that he sees himself as a victim and doesn’t see how he is at fault in any of this. He doesn’t think he should have to pay attorney fees because he believes he shouldn’t be responsible for my choice to sue him. He doesn’t think he should be responsible for a rental car while my daughter’s car is being repaired and he doesn’t think he should be responsible for any of the medical bills (because he didn’t sustain any injuries so we shouldn’t have either - that’s his reasoning).

If I take this case to small claims, both my daughter and I can sue for up to $5,000 each. There is no guarantee that he will pay. I’m not sure if or how I can attach the claim to his driver’s license so that it is suspended until he pays. I know that insurance companies are able to do this. If I don’t take this matter to court, there is still no guarantee that he will pay up.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

This open post was written 11 months, 3 weeks ago | V/U/S: 571, 1, 2 | Edit Post | Leave a reply | Report Post


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Since writing this post jsla may have helped people, but has not within the last 4 days. jsla is a verified member, has been around for 11 months, 3 weeks and has 2 posts and 2 replies to their name.

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Police, Insurance, court, Accident, daughter, guy, Payment, bills, Small, Damage, Car accident, Legal, Small claims (How Tags Affect Reciprocity)

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chev.jame offline Verified User (1 year, 7 months) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
An Unknown Location | 11 months, 3 weeks ago (25 minutes after post)

Some people, like the guy who ran into your daughter’s car, think that if they don’t have liability insurance, they cannot be sued. They are mistaken. In the absence of insurance, you could get a judgment against him and he would be on the hook to pay.

The problem is, however, that there are thousands of irresponsible turkeys like this guy running around. Most of them have little or no assets. Lawyers have a term for them: judgment proof. You can sue, you can win, but you can forget about collecting.

Around 90 percent of court judgments do not produce a penny for the plaintiff.

I have dealt with things like this before, and I can tell you that if someone has no insurance and no assets, you are wasting your time trying to collect. What’s more, your OWN insurance company will subrogate against this turkey to reclaim medical costs . . . further guaranteeing he won’t have anything to give you.

My advice: forget about this bum, bite the bullet and get your daughter’s car fixed, and buy collision insurance with an uninsured motorist provision.

No, this guy shouldn’t be allowed to drive until he gets insurance, and if you can make that happen, you’ve done about all that is possible. Even with a suspended license, however, you can bet this turkey will continue to drive.

The good news: neither you nor your daughter were seriously injured. But it was also a wake-up call: increase the limit of your medical coverage!

Sorry it happened!

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