Can I receive the difference in small claims?

Question

I bought a car for 3500 dollars. Its a 97 with 78000 miles. The other day, a lady rammed right into me. I sent the claim to my insurance company and they are only going to give me 1500 dollars (what they say my car is worth). I dont want a different car. I love my car... The cost to fix it is 1800 dollars. Can I sue the lady who hit me to pay the other 300 to get my car fixed or no? I just dont feel like I should have to fork out any ammount of money when it was due to her negligence. I have a police report claiming that it was her fault. I just dont know...

Answer 1

Of course you can sue her.

Just take her to small claims court along with the police report of the accident blaming her, and a receipt for the repairs or, three estimates of the cost to repair.

Of course, you can only sue her for the DIFFERENCE of what the insurance paid versus what the cost of the repair will be.

Answer 2

There are a few things you can do first. Do some research on the internet and find the book value of your car, e.g. kelleybluebook.com. If you find your car is worth more than that, ask your insurance company to pay that.

Is there a reason you submitted the claim to your insurance company instead of the other driver's? You might do better with them. She might have a better company than yours. Another reason to file the claim with the other company is you won't have a deductible and your company might hold this claim against you and raise your rates. I found this out the hard way. Of course state laws and insurance companies vary. My experience was with AIG in NJ. If your company does deduct the deductible, ask her insurance company to pay that.

If all else fails, I suppose you could try suing her in small claims court, but first contact her, she may be willing to pay the $300 to avoid having to go to court. If she works, she might not want to miss work. Get your car fixed first. It will help your case if you already paid the money.

Answer 3

Of course you can sue her.