What to do after my car gets hit?

Question

Hello,
I finally got home from college a day ago, my car had been parked since then and I hadn't driven it. Since It was only a day, I didn't have insurance on it yet, anyways tonight I finally decided to visit a friend about 7 minutes from my house. I parked my car outside and we were talking in the backyard hanging out.
Next thing I know, a high speed car chase is going on and im right in the middle of it, like 10 cops are chasing this one car, he turns onto our block, goes around, hits my car, destroys the front, he pulls out a gun and start running around the houses and jumping fences!
What a day!
He finally got arrested, his stolen car had insurance, but it was under his girlfriends name. I gave the police my info, and they gave me the Allstate policy claim #.
What can I do now besides calling the company?
Do I have any hopes in getting my car restored?
Will I have to go small claims court?
Any helpful advice?
-Thank and have a goodnight

Answer 1

You can pursue Allstate for damage to your vehicle. Now, if they deny coverage based on the fact that the car was stolen, you may be able to pursue it in small claims court, otherwise, since you had no insurance on the vehicle, you really have no outlet to pursue unfortunately. GOod luck.

Answer 2

Hello,
Unfortunately, your prospects for help from any insurance company are slim to none.

Insurance policies are written to specifically exclude coverage if a vehicle is driven without permission. At the same time, the owner of the vehicle is waived of any liability, so long as reasonable measures were taken to prevent the vehicle from being taken. In other words, as long as the stolen vehicle was locked before it was stolen, Allstate will not pay you anything and you have no legal recourse against the owner.

That means you have 2 options for having your car fixed. First, step up and pay for the repairs yourself. This is a costly lesson that you should NEVER drive without insurance. Be sure to document the damage and the repairs as completely as possible. Take before and after photos. Save every receipt and work order.
Secondly, you can take the driver to small claims court. Unfortunately, we can both assume that you're not too likely to get much, if any money out of the driver that way. If he was stealing a car, got caught, and has been arrested, how much money can he possibly have left to pay you after he first pays all his legal bills (if he ever even had any money to begin with)?

Your best bet is to call the owner's insurance company and plead your case. If anyone can help you it will be them. Just be aware that they will probably adamantly deny coverage. Be persistent with them and don't take "no" for an answer!

Answer 3

Well, the car was parked and you were not operating it while you were in the process of obtaining new insurance right?

File a claim with Allstate. They are a tight-*ss company to deal with (yeah, your in good hands with them.. my proctologist says that too) but you were not contributory to the accident in any way so with some kicking and groaning they should come thru to the extent of her coverage.

If they don't then its the small claims route. You will likely need to sue BOTH the boyfriend with the gun (at least you know were to find HIM for the next few days) as well as the owner of the car.

1) Take a lot of photos.. and get a couple of estimates
2) Make your claim.. provide the photos to the company.
3) Give them a reasonable time to inspect the car and respond. Provide this notice to BOTH the insurance company and to the 'Happy Couple'
4) If no response or if you do not agree with their offer, notify them that you are having the car repaired at... (provide them the name of the shop) and make a demand for payment of whatever the costs are (include a reasonable rental cost).
5) No response? Wapnerize them (small claims).. you can not sue the insurance company.. only the woman and driver.

The intent here is to provide full notice to the other side and to keep records to bring to court to show that you made a good faith effort to settle the matter.


good luck

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Answer 4

Do not mention to their insurance company that you were uninsured. If you do, then they have no obligation to pay for your insurance. Chances are, if the car was stolen, that Allstate will deny the claim. Now if this happens you are really screwed.

However, you can obtain an estimate for your car damages and then file a complaint with your superior court in the small claims court to have your damages be paid by the driver. This will take a while so if you can afford to pay for your car to be fixed, then I suggest you do it.

Answer 5

Welp, this is kinda the risk you took when you decided to drive just "one day" without insurance. Arent you happy it wasnt a little kid who ran into the road that you hit?

If this dude was driving a stolen car.. that he didnt have permission to drive... your screwed. It wouldnt be covered under the owners policy b/c why should they get screwed over if their car was stolen and they didnt give the guy permission? why should their policy pay out?

So yes.. get ready for small claims court.. but again... dont hold your breath.. this guy sounds like a loser.. you really think he has enough money laying around to pay you?

I hope you learned an expensive lesson here.