We were hit by an unisured driver, what can we do? Please help!!!?

Question

I am in need of some advice and I don't know who to ask. My husband was rear ended at a stop light on early Friday morning as he was waiting for the light to change to enter our subdivision (this was at 3:00am, comming home from work). The truck is not drivable. Luckily, he was ok. The driver was a young woman with her 10 year old kid. They were not hurt either. She told the police she was on her way home. (This was a lie because she doesn't even live in our subdivision). She acted a little off, like under the influence- officer ignored this. My husband explained she didn't have her lights on either. He didn't comment. He then started asking my husband all sorts of questions, like where were you going? Where were you stopped at? How did your truck wind up all the way over here?. She plowed right in to him with full force without any lights on, yet we seem to be the bad guys????

Anyhow that woman couldnt show proof of insurance, yet the cop told us he "Believed" her when she said she just couldn't find her paper. All she had was an old form that had just expired 2 weeks ago.
I spoke to my insurance provider (I have liability only :(, and no uninsured motorist coverage) and they said I need to call her to get the name of her insurance so they can fix it. Even though the woman showed the cop an expired form, he didn't bother to tell us who it was with. So I called her yesterday. The officer gave us her name and address. Well, some woman answered and said it was the wrong number. I explained that her number was given at an accident and she said she was sorry, but no one lives there by that name. I do believe her.
I am pretty sure the woman who hit us has no insurance, meanwhile our truck is sitting at a bodyshop waiting to be repaired. We don't have the money to fix it and there is a good chance it was totaled. Some people say we need to sue,

but she honestly looked like a crack ho so I am pretty sure she doesn't have any assets.

Has anyone been through this and if so, what did you do to get through?

Answer 1

you'll likely eat the loss, painful as that is.

to help with the emotional pain, get started on tracking down the driver.

Get a copy of the accident report from the police.

Her licence number and address are on the accident report. Go visit the address it lists. If, as you suspect, the people there do not know her, ask some of the neighbors {you're trying to find someone who used to live here a couple of years ago -- who in this area might remember them?}

If she's not actually living there, then you take your information to the police and ask them to find the driver who lied on the accident report. Lying on an accident report is (in most states) a crime.

IF you've gotten the ball rolling on one crime [lying] it is then time to get others rolling using you new found credibility -- her 'insurance'. Once an honest cop gets going on being lied to, they keep looking and digging.

***
Her insurance information is supposed to be on the report as well -- even if the card was old -- as long as she claims the insurance was in force.

That tells you the insurance company she at least used to have. Find their webiste or phone number and file a claim, in writing. Keep copies.

If her insurance was expired as you suspect, the company will deny the claim for that reason.

If they deny the claim for expired insurance, that information also goes to the police. [Another lie, if they haven't already detected it.]

***
Then you file a lawsuit against her, citing the false address, etc. she gave. If it is false, the process server won't find her, so you you'll serve her by advertising in the newspaper.

Then you wait for your court date AND alert the police as to when and where the date is.

If she doesn't show, you'll get a default judgment. It'll likely be uncollectible, and it'll appear on her credit record for the next seven years which will impede her ability to buy a car, house, or get credit anywhere in the United States. [vengence]

If she does show at court, the police can then arrest her for the lies on her accident report.


PS: file a lien on her car, too. Sure, it likely was totalled. Get the VIN number and use one of the online services to trace the car's history. That might yield a different address that maybe was valid at one time. More grist for the police.


GL

{Aside: the police questions for your husband ... at 3am, a single man in a car, in police experience, was likely either returning home from drinking, being stoned, or from chasing women. Honest workers on their way home aren't likely at 3am. That's why the questions.}

Answer 2

Well you can sue, the problem will be collecting. Many states now have laws that force an uninsured motorist involved in an accident to lose their license. They generally have no license until such time that they pay what they owe in damages. If she owns any property, you can get a judgment by suing and place a lien on the property. Basically you are looking at a long term resolution to your problem. Something similar happened to me and 2 years later I received a check for the amount owed on my truck. Luckily my insurance covered it and went after the other guy. As for the short term, I would look into replacing my truck and making sure that this time you have coverage for this type of problem. It is an expensive lesson. Good luck to you.

Answer 3

It's a simple matter. Sue her in civil court for the damages. Depending on where you live the judgement will last a minimum of 5 years (with interest) and in California the judgement is good for 10 years (at 10% interest on the unpaid balance) and renewable for another 10 years.

Answer 4

you can try sueing for damages, check and see what charges were given, if the police office felt she was under the influence he should noted it on accident report