fender bender accident i NEED some advice ASAP please!!!???
By pudgles
@pudgles (414)
United States
October 8, 2009 9:30am CST
Okay 2 weeks ago my son in law was at the store, he was parked at the last parking spot on the right right up against a guard rail. He was backing up and stopped when he noticed a truck coming towards him. the truck came from the farthest parking lot on the left and they hit. the truck shouldnt have been there either way for there wasnt enough room for her to even turn and go out. the side of my son in laws vn was lightly damaged as well as hs tail light, the trucks front had just bit of paint scrathced off. They left the vehicles where they were and callled the police. the very first thing the officer said was "hmm this looks odd" and went on about the report etc. My daughter had asked i he husband was going to lose his license for they didnt have insurance but the truck did. The officer said this insnt even a reportable accident, the damages dont even totalup to 1000 dollars. He said that he ddnt even tink that the insurance company would contact them. And he putit in the report as unsafe backing up... Well the guy that owns the truck has been harassing my son in law EVERYDAY for $500 for his deductible or he is filing a smal claims summons for cout.. My son in law told him that he has noo problem paying the deductible IF he has hs insurance company contact him for payment.
My daughter is worried that they are going to have to go to court and her husband is going to lose his license (she doesnt have one). She doesnt want t g to legal procedures..
So is waiting for the insurance company to contact them the best idea? What if he guys insurance company doesnt contact them and the man takes him to court? Would they be in favor rgardless because the guy refused to have his insurance company contact him?
What wouldyou do?? What should he do??
Any and all advice woul be greatly appreciated.
2 responses
@jennysp8 (855)
• United States
8 Oct 09
Your S-I-L may already be in jeopardy of losing his license and that is probably already in the works. The accident was reported to the police and the police know that he was driving illegally. They do not just typically let that slide. He may get something in the mail regarding the loss of his license.
If you S-I-L caused the accident, then he might want to pay for the $500 deductible. Legally, if your S-I-L was at fault (or at least at fault in the police report) then the other guy can sue him for the total cost of the damages, which if he is taking his vehicle to an auto body shop - is going to cost more than $500. This is what his insurance company would have paid if he would have been driving legally. He didn't have insurance which means that he is legally responsible for the total amount of repairs - out of his own pocket.
If you feel that you will lose in small claims - write up a letter, stating the agreement is that a payment for the $500 deductible is for PAYMENT IN FULL for damages, and have it notorized by all parties. Pay the money, get insurance and take this as a lesson learned. Be happy that this is all the guy is asking for. He's lucky the guy isn't a real nut job and claiming neck or back injuries and going to the hospital. Then your S-I-L would probably have tens of thousands of dollars to pay in medical bills.
Those who can't afford monthly car insurance, certainly cannot afford to pay for damages to another person's car out of their own pocket. He needs to get coverage before something happens again. Even the safest driver can cause accidents, breaks can suddenly go - the sun hits ya in the face and blinds you for a second - it happens.
Good luck!!!
@pudgles (414)
• United States
8 Oct 09
thank you for your response. but my son in law wasnt driving illegaly. he has a license.. In the state you dont have to have car insurance its not a law.. so he wasnt illegal there.. not sure what the police report says he is picking it up after work tonight...
but ok so he wasnt driving illegally.. if the guy doesnt have the insurance comapny contact him doesnt that mean that he just wants to pocket the money instead. wouldnt it be better if we just waited for the insurance company that way there it was all in writing and legal and all on paper??
@jennysp8 (855)
• United States
9 Oct 09
wow...that was my mistake. I just looked up your state's laws and I can't believe that there is no state law requiring car insurance. There must be a lot of law suits then for damages in accidents. I never heard of a state not requiring car insurance.
Anyways, he may or may not want to just pocket the money. If the guy is absolutely refusing to have the car insurance company call your son, then he may be trying to pocket the money. Then again, I don't know if my car insurance company would make a call to someone to ask them for the money. It may be in the car insurance company policy to not get involved, asking for a deductible from someone else because technically, the car insurance policies are written that the policy holder is the one with the $500 to pay. While that is technically true, this guy is insisting that your S-I-L pay it or he is taking him to court. If he takes your S-I-L top court, then most likely he will get damaged awarded to him for the scratch and that money will most likely go straight to an auto body shop, but if the guy is upset that his scam to get $500 cash for his pocket didn't work, he might just take him to small claims court for the heck of it.
Hope it all works out for him. I still can't believe that your state doesn't require car insurance. So what happens when accidents occur? Does everyone just end up in court - suing everyone?
@rina308 (83)
• Philippines
8 Dec 09
If you need legal assistance, try posting your case online at bidsfromlawyers.com. It's a great site, you can post your case, lawyers that are registered on the site can review it and then bid on your case. You basically have a list of lawyers to chose from with their profiles, etc.
