She hit me at the stop sign. We exchanged information and no police was called. I had a similar accident last year but the dispatcher refused to get the police involved. The reason is that there was no injury and the cars were still able to run! I had the same thought this time but it is still a new life lesson for me.
After waiting for 3 weeks, her insurance notified me that she didn’t have policy at that moment. I waited 3 weeks and left my car unrepaired just to know that!!! I feel like this is a scam since they asked me for all information, even the statement of what happened on that day. It’s even more odd that she had roadside assistance with AAA but no insurance.
Is there any way to persue this? I’m really mad right now I’m thinking to do anything to make that b*tch not sleep well every night till she paid for the damage of my car. Even she couldn’t afford it, I want to see her in jail!
My insurance is basic so it doesn’t cover this incident. Please give me some advice
Call your insurance company. Even if you only have a basic liability policy, you may have gotten uninsured motorist coverage since it’s only a few bucks
I guess you’ve got to sue her for damages if she doesn’t have insurance. And calm down. I was hit at a stop sign recently. Luckily the guy had insurance (but no license). His insurance took care of it. It’s frustrating, more so if the girl doesnt have insurance, but stuff happens. People do dumb stuff. Good luck.
I think in Calif by law you have to have uninsured motorist coverage as part of your car insurance, but that must not be the case in OP’s state. So what’s the recourse? Same as if she threw a rock at a raccoon and missed and the rock broke your window instead; while she didn’t intend to break your window, an accident, still she’s responsible to compensate you for the repair. To force her to pay for the damage from the accident you’d have to take her to small claims court I presume, if she won’t pony up the money after some cajoling first. Even if you win in small claims court though, no guarantee you’ll ever get the loot. She can’t pay you if she has no money. This is the reason insurance companies offer uninsured motorist coverage, so if you buy the coverage this sort of thing becomes your insurance company’s problem, not yours.
I think you are SOL on this…You should have called the police right then and there… You could threaten her with a letter from a lawyer or something, I guess, but I think you would be wasting your money and time. You could also try asking her to pay out of pocket for the damages but my guess is if she couldn’t afford insurance she probably isn’t going to be able or willing to give you any money. This is a good lesson though. Once you get the other drivers insurance you should immediately call the insurance company, while your still there at the scene, and verify if they are in fact actually covered… If they’re not, I’m sure the police would want to come out and investigate cause driving without insurance is illegal in most states.
I doubt the police’s involvement would have been of any benefit to the OP. The police might have issued her a traffic citation, but then she’d have even less money available to pay for the OP’s damages.
George, the police would file a report. With names, statements, and possibly who was at fault. Those records prove she (and her car) collided with OP and his car. Otherwise, it’s kind of a “he said”, “she said” situation.
My policy doesn’t have uninsured part and my agent told me there’s nothing they can do. If she keeps doing that, there’ll be people like me SOL and she won’t have to spare a dime.
How can I start small claim court with her? I’m sure I can win it as my dash cam recorded the whole thing on that day
Probably not… but If you had some proof that she was actually driving the car uninsured when she got in the accident, your case would be easier to prove in court. As it sits 3 weeks out i think she could just deny her involvement. IDK This thing just happened to a friend of mine and its a crappy deal. Luckily it was a minor fender bender and I was able to find the parts she needed in the same color of her car at a junk yard so it wont be a huge financial burden for her.
Google the address of the local small claims court, give them a call and find out what you have to do to start the process. In PA you go to the magistrates office, fill out paper work with your info and the other persons info, the magistrates office sets a date and you both get to tell your side of the story. I would assume your jurisdiction would have a similar process. In PA the magistrates ruling can be appealed ‘de novo’ basically meaning if you disagree with the magistrates ruling you can go to county court (next level up) without having to justify the appeal. For small claims the process works and you generally do not need an attorney. If you are uncomfortable with the process or the damage is big $$, get an attorney.
In New Mexico you can’t have a lawyer in small claims court unless you’re a corporation - big advantage for them. Winning may be easy, collecting is hard. You have to do it yourself, or hire a professional, who wants a fee and won’t bother with a sketchy collectee.
The first step would be to present the other driver with a copy of your repair estimate and ask for the money, she may not be able to pay you but perhaps a relative will help her.
If she is unable to pay or unwilling to make payments you can sue her but collecting may not be easy.
You can call the police if you want to but keep in mind that it is your responsibility to fill out an accident report within a certain time period and three weeks is way too long after, you may be threatened with a citation.
I Just got off the phone with my insurance company…Starts with a G. And they don’t offer uninsured motorist without full coverage. I drive fairly cheap cars so it wouldn’t be worth it for me switch my coverage.
About all you can do is fix it and take her to small claims court for the loss. You can have AAA towing coverage without car insurance but you can’t have the car insurance without the AAA membership.
I don’t know about Texas but generally the uninsured/underinsured coverage is for medical or loss of income issues, not damage to your car. Your collision coverage would pay for that if you had it. So if you are injured and their coverage is not enough to cover your injuries, your uninsured coverage can cover the rest, but not vehicle damage. It’s been almost 50 years though since I’ve had my agent license so might be a little fuzzy.
One thing you need to realize in regard to suing her in small claims or district court.
Even if you win the case with no question in a heartbeat that does not guarantee that you get paid.
At that point you have a court judgement only but no money.
THEN you have to resort to finding out where she banks (if at all), where she works to get a wage garnishment, etc and whether or not she has any assets at all.
Garnisheeing a bank account or paycheck or even a levy on any assets will require you to spend even more money exercising those rights; even if you are able to track down those sourcese.
What’s the nature of the damage? Something you can live with as is? If so, give her the estimate. If she refuses to pay, ask her why. If it is that she has no money, ask if she could pay $10 or month. If she still refuses, just live with the damage. That’s what I’d do. Life is too short to deal w/trifling stuff like an old econobox that has a few more dents than it had before. Going for a walk in the warm afternoon sunshine is going to make you feel better than sitting in a stuffy smalls claims court and have to listen to people’s 2-bit claims that their neighbor ruined their snow blower.
