Involved in car accident please help!?

Question

I was involved in a car accident on Sat., I was stopped at a light behind like 10 people when the light turned green it was still stop & go so I made sure to be careful but the lady behind me slammed into me & left two holes in my bumper where her license plate was screwed in. I called the police. We found out she had no license & does not speak any english) but her husband had insurance for the car. I have all the information so I called their insurance and they said they do not have to pay me since she is not under the insurance policy. I am now waiting for a call back from my insurance. I really do not think suing would help out with this situation (their car was a piece of junk) and I cannot afford a lawyetr right now. What should I do? I have the phone # people who hit and the son sort of speaks english so I could possibly work it out with them but if they found out they're insurance will not pay me they might not either. What should I do?

Answer 1

Let your insurance company handle it.
Do not call the people who ran into your car.
Do not pay any attention to the persons who run into you and do not in any way deal directly with their insurance company.
Do not pay anyone any money unless your insurance company tells you to.
FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY.

Answer 2

Apparently you do not live in a "no fault" auto insurance state (like Michigan). In a no fault state you file the claim with your insurance and it doesn't matter if the other motorist is insured or not.

Now for the bad news. If not in a no fault state and you are not paying for an uninsured drivers rider, odds are no insurance has to pay you. But the driver, and the owner of the car are personally liable.

Go and get 2 or 3 estimates from legitimate repair shops and then go and file a small claims court case. You ask the court for your repair costs, court filing fee and any rental fees while your car is being fixed (not allowed in some states, mandated in others). Shouldn't cost you much ($50 to $100 bucks) and you don't need a lawyer. Keep in mind you cannot sue in small claims to recover lawyer fees.

Then if after you win, and if you take 3 estimates and a copy of the police report that shows she was ticketed and at fault, you will win, you can try and collect.

Odds are that eventually you might have to go back and get a garnishment, but that is ok.

These people need to learn that laws (driving without a license) are the law and they don't have the right to not follow them.

Good luck

Answer 3

I'm sure it's different from state to state but I will tell you what we tell all people who come in with the same situation (I work at a police dept). First if you have full coverage on your vehicle you should have uninsured drivers' coverage. Take your police report to your insurance company so they can contact the other driver's insurance, regardless what they told you already. Your insurance should be handling all this for you that's why you pay them. If for some reason they cannot get the other insurance to pay, your insurance should then fix your car. Now, let's say you do not have full coverage or they won't cover you for some reason, you could try to make arrangements with these people. Where you can take your car to some shops and get quotes and have them pay for the repairs. Or if they decline to help you at all, you can take them to a small claims court, the judge will decide.

I wish you the best of luck, I know how frustrating it is after being in a car accident.

Answer 4

Your insurance may or may not pay depending on whether your policy has uninsured/under-insured coverage.

Another way is to get a couple of estimates for the repair and discuss with the people of having them give you the money for the lowest amount. Don't let them talk you into going with "some guy they know." As the injured party you have the right to take your car where you want.

If they won't come to an agreement, then your final recourse is Small Claims court. It's inconvenient time-wise and can lead to bitter feelings, but at least you won't have to pay a lawyer.

Answer 5

♥ The inusrance does indeed have to pay... and if they cops came to the scene then they should charge the husband with allowing someone without a license & whom was not on the policy to drive the car.... Call the insurance company again.

♥ Also call and consult with a lawyer... many have a free consultation so you can at least ask questions about your rights. Good Luck!

Answer 6

You need to let your insurance company handle this for you. That's what they get paid for. Tell them the situation. Since it's not your fault, they SHOULD go after the other party.

I'm not a lawyer, but usually, if you own a car, you are responsible for damages caused by someone you let drive it. Her husband has insurance for the car, so it should be covered...but your insurance should deal with this for you. Ask them what the plan is and just make sure you won't be penalized for this accident.

Answer 7

Get an estimate of the damage to fix your car. Then submit that estimate to the insured person of that vehicle.
The only way he can get out of the debt is if his vehicle was stolen and in this case it was not.
He is liable even if if his insurance won't pay.

All you have to do is sue him for the damages if it comes to that. Let your insurance files the claim against his insurance and go from there even though they refuse to pay it is all legal paper work you need to do in order to get your claim full filled.

I let a guy drive my Mazda and he said he had a license which he did not. He wrecked my Mazda hitting another vehicle and he was arrested for DUI and driving under suspended license.
I had full coverage and since I let him drive my car my insurance had to pay for the other vehicle. They also had to pay for my vehicle to be fixed because it was his fault, but I was liable.

In your case the lady has no license and the car she was driving obviously only had liability, but that means the owner of that vehicle can sub,mit your calim as well to his insurance and when his insurance collects from her they will pay you.

Answer 8

Your insurance will attempt to recover any damages from the person who hit you. I get so tired of hearing about these idiots that do not have a license driving on our streets. I think they should do some jail time for the first offense and maybe they will do a little more thinking before they get behind the wheel again.

Answer 9

If they sent you a denial letter because it was an unlisted driver it does not really make sense. Liability follows the car not the driver. Collision coverage would not apply to them if if was a non listed driver. Was the driver maybe excluded from the policy? That's probable why they denied the claim. You can pursue a collision claim with your own carrier and they can subrogate against the responsible party. Sometimes your insurance carrier may waive your deductible if not they will reimburse you once they receive payment.

Answer 10

I am an insurance agent for Farmers and i would ask you 1st do you have uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist coverages on your policies. If so then your insurance should cover those dings they left in your car. If you have full coverage the it will for sure be covered. Liability laws in my state require that you have "U.M." included in your liability coverages. Check with your company and see if they offer this to you. A good company would have explained your coverages to you directly...i can't believe they didn't. If you have more questions email me at [e-mail] and put the subject as auto question. I will help you more if need be. Sorry this happened to you.

Answer 11

See what your insurance is going to do about it first. Generally your insurance company's do the talking back and forth. If you aren't satisfied with how it is being handled, take the matter into your own hands by geting an estimate on how much it is going to cost to fix your car. Then I would call the foreign family up to tell them how much it is going to cost and try to get them to pay for it out of their pocket.