My dad and I take turns paying insurance and I forgot to send payment in, so I had a lapse for about 5 days w/ no coverage (I wasn't aware of the lapse until after the accident). A driver was parking beside me as I was getting out and hit my door and totally messed it up. My insurance is not covering damages and other driver saying it's my fault. I have pictures, and feel it was the other's drivers fault. I'm not sure if I should try contacting the other insurance company, or just suck it up and pay for the repairs myself...
2007-01-22 09:16:28 · 7 answers · asked by Nissy 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Insurance & Registration
My dad and I take turns paying insurance and I forgot to send payment in, so I had a lapse for about 5 days w/ no coverage (I wasn't aware of the lapse until after the accident). A driver was parking beside me as I was getting out and hit my door and totally messed it up. My insurance is not covering damages and other driver saying it's my fault. I have pictures, and feel it was the other's drivers fault. I'm not sure if I should try contacting the other insurance company, or just suck it up and pay for the repairs myself...
Adding a little detail to explain better. I was getting out of my car; my door was already open, and I was proceeding to step out of my vehicle and this driver just drove straight into the side of my door. The driver pushed my door in from how fast he was driving, and the front bumper of his car had a vertical indentation from where he drove into the side of my door.
2007-01-23 03:57:25 · update #1
Im going to resist the urge to tell you how important insurance is. thank god you didnt kill someone in that five days.
Now- YES YES YES... call his insurance company. The worse thing they can do is deny your claim. Actually- the worse thing they can do is find you at fault and send you the bill for their insureds damages. But, they will have your information regardless so you might as well call them and give them your side of the story
btw... some peoples bogus answers irk me.... that person that said you had to send the estimate to the other driver and he had "no obligation" to tell his insurance is sadly mistaken. You dont need to send anything to the other driver.. contact their insurance directly
2007-01-22 12:12:23 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well if you know the name of the other persons insurance you can make a claim. BUT....If you do not then you need to send a claim or a bill (in writing) to the owner of the other car to start the process. He is not obligated to turn it over to his insurance company (or even to respond to you at this point).
If you are refused or if there is no response, then you are going to have to decide if you want to take it to court.
Small claims court is likely the be venue that will work for you in this since I doubt that the costs exceed $5k which is the usual cap in most states. (We call this 'Wapnerizing' someone for obvious reasons).
Decide if you can prove your case given the photos and documentation and witness that you may have. If you can it is a very simple thing to fill out the forms at your local county office and then have the papers served on the driver. The process should cost between $50 and $75 to start including the process service.
At this point the other driver MUST respond to either you or the court or risk a judgement.
If the car is in your fathers name he will need to join you in the lawsuit. If it is in your name OR your fathers then your application is enough.
good luck ....
.
2007-01-22 17:59:40 · answer #2 · answered by ca_surveyor 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You'll have to sue the other driver, probably in Small Claim's Court. It's possible that you won't collect anything though as many states now bar you from recovering if you don't have insurance yourself. The concept is known as "no play, no pay".
If you try to contact the other party's insurance company directly, the first question they'll ask is "Who is your insurance company and what is your policy number?" When you then admit that you're uninsured, their most likely response will be, "Goodbye!"
P.S. If you opened your door into the other vehicle as he was pulling in, you're probably responsible for the damage to both cars. Since you didn't have insurance you'll very likely be paying for both cars' damages out of pocket. If he files it with his insurance, they WILL be coming after you for restitution.
2007-01-22 22:13:58 · answer #3 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Parking lot incidences, unless involving drink or drugs, or careless driving with witnesses, are pretty much always 50-50 blame. If you were opening your door while another car was moving beside you (that's how I read it), you don't have much claim, so I think you are best to pay it. As far as a lapse in insurance, you should damn well be ashamed, and thankful you didn't have a major accident with thousands of dollars of property damage coupled with serious injuries. Please pay better attention next time. Get a calendar.
2007-01-22 23:12:03 · answer #4 · answered by Fred C 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the accident took place on private property then no one is going to be held at fault, HOWEVER because your insurance is lapsed you cannot go after the other driver or their insurance and actually, whether it was his fault or not, his insurance company will most likely be suing you for the damages on his car if he carried uninsured motorist protection.
2007-01-22 17:23:40 · answer #5 · answered by scottncincy2000 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You can contact the other insurance company.
2007-01-22 17:22:25 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Two lessons here: Pay your insurance on time and PAY ATTENTION.
2007-01-22 23:35:50 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋