I was rearended from the back at a red light. Do I have a case to sue?

Question

I really don't think the guy even tried to brake.
My neck and head are still hurting horribly days later.
I bought the car for just over 5k and put in a new trans at 4k.
Full story and pictures here- http://www.flickr.com/photos/logg/

advice for dealing with insurance/suing?

ALSO.
I'm returning to the hospital tomorrow due to all the pain.
I missed work today because I hurt so bad.
Yesterday I went because I didn't feel as bad and needed something to keep my mind off my destroyed car.
I'm 17 and will be attending my last year of HS this year.
I'm also taking colleges courses at a community college 30 minutes away.
My means of transportation are destroyed.

I'm not trying to make money.
I just want to make sure everything is covered, including the new transmission we put in the car.

My car was a '98 so we didnt have full insurance.
The Ford Explorer that plowed into me was veryvery new and the guy at the tow place told me there was a 99.9% chance the owner had it fully covered.

I would never try to get more money out of this.
All I really want is my car back.

my dad has already called our insurance.
we are waiting for the police report which should be available monday.

Answer 1

document everything , time missed, doctors appts, the first priority is you, you don't want to be in pain the rest of your life.

hopefully the other guy has insurance,
if not you have insurance coverage for uninsured/under insured drivers; you may ask a lawyer to help you sue if you are not satisfied.
if he is insured..... his liability will cover your expenses without sacrificing any money in a deductible

have you saved the receipt for any major work on the car? that will help reimburse you for any major work on the car
if you don't have the reciept go back to the repair shop and get a copy!

Answer 2

An Explorer going fast enouch to do that damage and your little on? The officer who told you that you were lucky it wasn't worse was so very right. I guess the commercials are true.

You don't a lot of tips since other people called it in, the amount of damage, that the police were there so fast, you went to the hospital (and going back) and it was a rear end make it an easy case.

Understood you are not trying to get serious money but you have to APPEAR to have the attitude that you are. You set the bar as to what you are seeking super high so that in the end the amount will be closer to what you need. They of course will try to pay as little as possible so if you set the amount low you will get even lower. And NEVER accept the first settlement offer...... I had a similar thing happen to me. The first offer was $20K. The second was $45K.

I had a 8 year old Lexus that I had spent money on and maintained so it looked new inside and out. All they wanted to give me was Blue Book value.

So you need to list everything including money spent on tuition. And feel no guilt. The guy was going to fast, probably has more vehicle than he needs, basic models start at $31K and he was probably on his cell. He could have ruined your life or might ruin anothers later. Time you have to spend dealing with this?

His insurance will go up and you will be compensated. Maybe he might slow down next time. So embrace more of an attitude that you are mad. And of course until this is resolved don't play any sports or anything even when you feel better.

Answer 3

If the driver had insurance, you might not need to sue. You might just be able to settle with the insurance company on your own if they will give you what you want.

If the other driver didn't have insurance, did you have full coverage on your car? If so, your insurance company might sue or settle on your behalf and you need to talk to them.

If you get an attorney, most will do free consultations and then if they take the case, do it on a contingency fee basis (you pay a percentage of what you get). If this is the case, find someone who 1) isn't afraid to go to trial....a lot of those personal injury lawyers just settle everything, 2) charges around 25-30 percent contingency at the most...you can negotiate this if you need to.

Final word of advice....document EVERYTHING--days missed, pain, expenses, etc.

Answer 4

If he has insurance, which surely he does if his vehicle is new (if a financial institution has a lien on the car, as they do until it is paid for in full, then of course he does, they absolutely require it), and if you are really not trying to "make money" off of it, then you won't have to sue. If you have insurance, then your company will see to it that all of your expenses are paid, including your vehicle's worth; if you don't have insurance, his insurcance company will probably will handle it without question, but maybe not; you might need an attorney to keep them from tying to weasel their way out of it on the basis that you did not.

If you do want to make money, then you have a perfect case for that too. He is clearly at fault (any rear-end collision is ALWAYS the rearender's fault for following too close, etc.). And soft-tissue damage (such as whiplash, etc) is almost impossible to prove. You will win, without question.

Answer 5

Maybe. Fault won't be a problem, but you won't get the $9K for the car PLUS the transmission. You /might/ get the blue book value, plus your medical expenses, and IF punitive damages are allowed, you might also get those. That is a best case scenario. You should call your Insurance Company. If you have full coverage, they will get you an attorney if you request one.

Answer 6

Well his auto insurance should cover your expenses, including vehicle repairs, vehicle rental, and medical expenses. If he doesn't have insurance you may have to sue, but you probably won't get any money in that case.

If your expense are covered why do you want to sue? Trying to hit the lawsuit lottery? I hope not. It's fair enough to ask for coverage of expenses, but asking for money beyond that is just greedy. It is a big problem in our country, that just because you have pain and inconvience that someone should pay you. Life is pain. Life is inconvience.

Answer 7

This is what auto insurance is for.
You have comprehensive, right?

Here is an earlier answer with a review of the different kinds of auto insurance that we all should have, provided we can afford it all.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Arnu4f.pdP7r2r6TmxMI_ajty6IX?qid=20070719151415AA3ACTP

Suing is for last resort after exhausting what insurance does for you.

You exchanged info with the other driver right? ... Name address, insurance company, auto description, license plate.
You got a police report right?
If the other driver refused to tell you key identification, you told the police right?
You called your insurance company, right? You made the first call within a couple business days of the accident right?
You supplied your insurance company with estimates to fix the car, your medical bills, other expenses.

The police report should have concluded that it was the other guy fault, what insurance the other guy had.

If the other guy has insurance, then your insurance company pays off your expenses, and gets the money from the other guy insurance. You are compensated up to the limits of the other guy insurance.

If the other guy was uninsured, then your insurance company pays off your expenses, up to the limits of your insurance. If your expenses exceed that, then you may be out of luck for not having had enough insurance.

If the short fall is significant, you can try to sue the other guy for the difference.

However, a driver who is too poverty to be able to buy auto insurance, is probably too poverty to pay you much.

You may be able to get a court order to confiscate his car, sell it for whatever cash it can get, then you get the rest of your money from that.

If you did not call the insurance company within a few days, then by your choice you paid all your expenses out of pocket and have no recourse for anyone else to reimburse any of your expenses.

Try to sue the other guy & the defense will be
You should have contacted your insurance company right after this happened, and they would have paid off your expenses.
You chose not to.
You can't then turn around and demand someone else pay you because of your negligence in not caling the insurance.

If you were so badly injured to be hospitalized and not able to call your insurance because you were unconsious, that is excuse for not calling your insurance company for a few days ... the police should have notified them.

But if you are in good enough shape to be posting question here on Yahoo Answers, you are in good enough shape to inform your auto insurance company about th accident.

Answer 8

You probably have a bad case of whiplash. You might want to consult a lawyer on your injuries to confirm. Most lawyers will give a free consultation.