Should i press charges or can I? what would u do?

Question

A friend asked to borrow my car for an hour. After three hours, I called and asked him to return my car. He hung up the phone and never returned the car. After hours of calling, i fell asleep. I saw my car on the news the next morning in a high speed chase as it went through a building, totaling the car. I began calling his phone. He answered telling me he had just got out of jail and that my car was not wrecked. Your car is in the police pound. I will pay for it. after hours of waiting, my insurance company called. Yes the car was wrecked. This person is not on my insurance and actually no longer had my permission to be driving my car. Now I am car-less, he says not to worry he will buy me another one.(yeah right) just dont press charges. My feelilngs are involved in this one, but i was taken advantage of and my wishes were not respected. In his defense, he lied because he was trying to get me another car before i found out. now i have no way to get to work or get around.

Answer 1

If you're smart, you'll file a stolen vehicle report and YES press charges.

Answer 2

Insurance wise:

At the time that your friend got your car, he was a permissible driver and then did something criminal in it. As a permissible driver, he was covered, but only to drive the vehicle.. not to high speed race it and run it through a building. The second you say "I didn't give him permission", he's technically not covered, and you could then call this theft and any damage caused to your vehicle during theft is completely covered by comprehensive. Please keep that in mind.

If you already told your insurance company that he was okayed to use your vehicle at all - the vehicle being used in a criminal way by any permissible driver is specifically excluded from just about every policy (if not all), so right there, you lose any coverage you might have had from your insurance company. If they want to be nice, they could still pay out, but they definitely don't have to.

The option you have is to really talk this over with your insurance company. You might be able to get this taken care of if you have full coverage! The other option you have is to sue him, but suing doesn't exactly equal getting money immediately. He's got to have money for them to take it, you know what I mean? And keep in mind that if the insurance company pays out, you lose your right to bring him to court.

Answer 3

Your insurance is reasonable if they are not going to stand behind you...You need to see a Attorney....As far as pressing charges against you Friend You did give your permission to use the car...He didn't bring it back when you asked so probably the only charge you might be able to bring on him is Unauthorized use..Would it be worth you time and effort to do this...He has other charges from the police chase . The prosecutor would probably just use YOUR charge as leverage to get him to take a plea.and end up dropping it because its a small misdemeanor..I would be more worried about the damage he caused during the chase than the car...That could be big $$$$$$$$$..Call a Lawyer first thing Monday morning

Answer 4

Well, no good deed goes unpunished I guess. I would press charges. A problem that you may have with having him charged is that he would have to be charged with auto theft. Something else to think about is the fact that running from the police is a felony and he will be doing some time in jail. So, you chances of getting another car from him are not to good. If you want your insurance to pay, you will probably have to have him charged. On the other hand, if your feelings are to the point that you can not bear to do that, you may want to invest in a bus pass. Good Luck.

Answer 5

I would definately press charges...that's your personal property and your friend took full advantage of you and the car and without remorse says he'll buy you a new one despite that he lied to you, hung up on you, and was in a HIGH SPEED CHASE ON THE NEWS!! That is not right in my opinion. How could you call him a friend when you were nice enough to loan him your car, yet he does all that to you and it??
Press charges before its too late to do so.

Answer 6

If you do not press charges, you are out of luck. Your original "lending" of the car is still covered even though you requested he return it. By not pressing charges, you have no legal rights to make him replace your car. In my State, you would also get a ticket for allowing an uninsured driver to use your car.

Answer 7

Is this for real?

You didn't say what kind of car or the value of said car. You might be able to get the police to nail him for auto theft, if not, you'd have to sue him in civil court for the value of the car, plus expenses related to loss of use.

Some friend. I hope you learned something here.

Answer 8

TRICKY QUESTION FROM STATE TO STATE BUT HERE GOES, HE WOULD BE FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY AND ALL DAMAGES TO YOUR VEHICLE BUT REMEMBER THAT YOU LOANED HIM THE CAR AND GAVE HIM THE KEYS, SO IN SOME STATES HE MAY BE OFF THE HOOK.

THE INSURANCE COMPANY IS CLEARED FROM PAYING ANYTHING TO YOU BECAUSE HE WAS NOT A LISTED DRIVER ON YOUR POLICY.

REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN ALSO BE COMPLETELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY AND ALL DAMAGES TO WHATEVER HE DESTROYED AS WELL.

SMALL CLAIMS COURT WILL NOT BE AN OPTION FOR YOUR SITUATION, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU SEE AN ATTORNEY ON THIS ONE, BUT AS I STATED ABOVE YOU LOANED HIM THE CAR AND GAVE HIM THE KEYS.

Answer 9

i would definantly take him to court. he shouldnt have been taking advantage of you because thats not what a real friend would do. he's not going to buy u a new car because if he was going to buy a car he would not be borrowing yours and buy one for himself. i would be so pissed off. im sitting at home with no way to get to work because u had to go off and wreck my damn car. wow im getting angry just reading that