[mr_baseball_08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanG /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is illegal to drive without insurance, but again, I'm not sure that she doesn't have coverage. It somehow only came up when I said that if $1000 is too much for her, then I'll go through insurance. I do have insurance but it doesn't cover collision damage. I called my insurance co. half an hour after I talked to the cop and they took down what I said. Then I got a letter a few days later saying that because I didn't have collision insurance, they won't pay for anything. So I'll have to try to go through her company if she doesn't pay up.

Personally, I wouldn't stop by her house as that could potentially make the issue worse.

If your car insurance doesn't cover these little fender benders, what does it cover?

As it sounds to me, you can try to pursue her in court, but given the facts as they are now, it may be a waste of time. Most likely she'd never show up. If she's jobless and supporting kids (who knows?) you're even less likely to get the money. If she does have a job but is still stubborn, she could still drag this thing out. You could end up spending 6+ months waiting for your money, and multiple trips to the courthouse. This is probably the worst case scenario but given her previous behavior, this is probably what I would expect.

Personally, it would be worth it to me to invest the time and effort (unless of course, lawyer fees come into the fray, in which case it wouldn't be worth your money to try and get the 1K back) to go after her. Then again, I'm a broke college kid, so I have a bit of spare time and need every penny I can get.

I know it sucks, but these things do happen. Good luck and maybe you'll get your money and a new bumper!

 

[Squeek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Febs /img/forum/go_quote.gif File a claim with your insurance company. Let them pursue her.

x3 that is exactly why you are paying for insurance. Leave it to them.

 

[Squeek]

I was in a recent situation. I was rear ended, though the girl stopped. It was $900 to fix my bumper and the girl did not want to pay. I did everything I could to keep it out of insurance, as I knew it would mean a lot more $ for her in the long run. After a couple of calls her parents would not even let me speak to her (I could not have been nicer to her when we did speak) and accused me of being shady by having one of my "friends" write up an inflated estimate (this was a dealer estmate). There was just no need for what they were doing.

That was the last straw. I filed through insurance and got my bumper fixed at the dealer. She must have paid at least $500 in deductible and her premiums surely increased by a few hundred a year for the at fault accident.

What a dummy.

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanG /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is illegal to drive without insurance, but again, I'm not sure that she doesn't have coverage. It somehow only came up when I said that if $1000 is too much for her, then I'll go through insurance. I do have insurance but it doesn't cover collision damage. I called my insurance co. half an hour after I talked to the cop and they took down what I said. Then I got a letter a few days later saying that because I didn't have collision insurance, they won't pay for anything. So I'll have to try to go through her company if she doesn't pay up.

Contact the officer that you dealt with and obtain a copy of the police report for the accident--there should be one. (If there isn't, talk to that officer's superior and find out why they aren't following basic police procedure.) The report should identify the other driver's insurance.

 

[MASantos]

That is really a lame attitude.

I had a small accident last week, I hit the rear of another mens car. Nothing major but still about 900€ damage. I declared myself guilty and we filled all the insurance paperwork, 4 days later his car was being repaired. I won't be much penalised in my insurce as I never had any accidents before.

 

[seanohue]

this happend to me last year, except I didn't get the guy's license plate. My damage was over $3000, 3/5 of the cost of the car. Luckily, the insurance picked it up under uninsured drivers and we didn't have to pay more than about $20. But I have NO sympathy for drivers that hit and run. I swear, if I could have gotten that license plate.....

 

[Bob_McBob]

Someone at my mother's work recently scraped all around the right front bumper on our car and courteously didn't bother to leave any contact info

It's going to be at least a few hundred to have it fixed.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanG /img/forum/go_quote.gif And now, for the part you've been waiting for... the problems with me getting the money to repair my car: 1. "I lost my job and so now I'm on social security..." 2. "I need to take care of my baby and it's really expensive..." 3. "I actually just canceled my insurance 3 days before the accident so I don't think they'd want to pay... I actually wasn't supposed to be driving the car at all..." 4. "The cop came to my house and told me you're a college student and that you seemed really nice and we could just talk this over..." 5. "I know you probably don't care, but I got told I got cancer just a couple days before the crash so I had a lot to deal with..."

Wow, she's a terrible liar too. I hope the ****** has to pay the full amount out-of-pocket on Christmas eve.

 

[Trippytiger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_baseball_08 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If your car insurance doesn't cover these little fender benders, what does it cover?

Third-party liability.

 

[Samgotit]

Quote:

5. "I know you probably don't care, but I got told I got cancer just a couple days before the crash so I had a lot to deal with..."

If you have the chance to speak to here again, ask her exactly what type? What stage? What medications she's on? Etcetera. If she hesitates sue here. If she doesn't hesitate sue her.

If your insurance company will not take care of it for you:
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=1643

 

[DanG]

I found out that her insurance company has an office right next to campus so I'm thinking I'll stop by there tomorrow and find out whether she really wasn't covered at the time of the accident... or is that a bad idea? Should I just wait until Wednesday and see if she does come up with the money, even though I'm pretty sure she won't?

 

[RYCeT]

File it asap, it won't do you any good to wait for her. She do a hit & run, give you lame excuses. What make you think she will come to her senses.

 

[nikongod]

i would get the police involved immediately.

i would probably get a lawyer involved SHORTLY after that, assuming things didnt go my way.

dude, dont set yourself up to get carried away without money here.

 

[DanG]

Well, today is the day that the money was due from this dead-beat, and it didn't arrive. She should have received the damage estimate by now. I can't say I'm very surprised.

So first thing I did was call the insurance company listed on her registration, which told me that her parents in Vermont insure with them, but that her car hasn't been insured with them since January of this year. So they told me to call the police.

I called the police, and the dispatcher told me that they don't have access to that information as Vermont registrations don't list the insurance company. They told me to get in touch with her to get the correct insurance information or else file a civil suit to get the money from her.

Basically, the police don't appear very interested in helping me out, but a hit-and-run and driving without insurance are both crimes in Massachusetts, as far as I know. And going to court is not easy, to say the least. I may try calling Geico and Progressive and tell them that she was in a hit-and-run and see if they insure her.

You guys have been extremely helpful so far, so do you have any further advice for me?

Thanks so much for your help, everyone.

 

[splaz]

Well some have said you won't see a dime, but that's not necesarily the case. My uncle hit another car uninsured, which is legal here but stupid, he pleaded that he was broke in court, as he was a student, and they just arranged for small payments. Ended up taking a few years to pay it all off.

However another story is some drug driver crashed through the wall of a house and no money was ever seen as the driver really had virtually nothing at all to take and pretty much just dissapeared off the face of the earth.