uninsured motorist totals our vehicle... (OP comments on page 4)

[Davaroo]

Quote:
In that case, I would suggest you retain an attorney and get it from someone who really does know.

 

[bluey]

Edited to remove trolling comments

Being right doesn't mean you will be made whole.

 

[twentynine]

Good luck trying to get blood from a turnip.

She didn't have insurance, does not have the resourses to "do the right thing". So how in the world do you intend on recovering anything?

Insurance is expensive, yep you are right, and normally I would agree with the majority but----- if the truck was only worth a few hundred to a few thousnad, shucks you can spend the entire value of the vehicle paying for insurance.

 

[bluey]

If a driver theoretically has no insurance and no money, you will get nothing. That is the point I'm making. Hiring lawyers to recoup nothing in a case like that makes no sense to me at all.

In this day and age, if you want to be protected, you have to protect yourself. You cannot rely on others. That is the simple point I, and a few others were trying to make.

 

[cmjust0]

I wouldn't be so worried about the lady who ran the stop sign. For all you know, she's sitting somewhere right now racking her brain trying to figure out how she's gonna sue your s/o..

For example...I got rear-ended not so long ago, and things didn't turn out so well for the rear-ender's car. She was in a brand new Toyota Yaris, I was in a Toyota T-100 with a frame-mounted trailer hitch.. I got a dented bumper, she got absolutely destroyed.

It was all pretty cut and dried, too... I was at a dead stop behind three other cars at a redlight, she didn't stop, blammo. End of story.

Well, I got a call from her insurance company asking for my statement on tape...standard procedure...if I didn't talk, they wouldn't write me a check. I cleared it with my insurance company beforehand, and given the nature of the accident, they weren't too concerned that I might "screw up" and say something indicating any culpability on my end.. It was open and shut, so far as they were concerned.

So -- very, very guardedly and in as few words as possible -- I answered her insurance company's questions. Lots of "yes" and "no," only answering precisely what was asked and offering not a shred more.

Only after the insurance rep turned off the tape did she inform me of the claim that I had veered over in her client's lane and jammed on the brakes at the last second, making it impossible for her to avoid hitting me.....almost like I did a "swoop and squat."

Why would she lie like this, you may ask?

Because -- in her infinite wisdom -- she scrimped and saved up enough money to buy the car outright...cash money...then decided it would be a good idea to carry liability only. Ya know...save that $25/mo it would cost a late-20's asian female to upgrade to full coverage on a piddly little $13K car..

As it happened, her insurance agent was a high school friend of mine.. He told me -- point blank -- that he'd warned her and chided her for not carrying full coverage when the cost difference was so seemingly inconsequential....but she wouldn't listen. So, when she came in saying she'd rear-ended someone and asking what she should do with the car, I think he got a tiny bit of satisfaction in saying:

"Well, I guess you sell it for scrap."

Anyway...the long and short being that this sweet little girl who was so apologetic for hitting me turned into a lying, conniving, deceitful little turdmonkey when she saw the repair bill..

My advice: Eat, or be eaten. Go on the offense RIGHT NOW, before she does. Threaten her with a thunderstorm of poop so massive that she will feel genuine relief when you reluctantly agree to knock it back down to a mere $4K..

 

[Suellyn]

I didn't read anything in here that screamed that th OP was "offended by a different point of view".. I read clarification of her legally uninsured status, re-clarification of the intent of her post, and re-re-re-clarification of a number of facts that she has already stated that had been misunderstood (or not read).

All of which must be a bit frustrating, and disheartening (!), especially given the traumatic event she has just been thru, followed by posting to her BYC "support crew" & having it turn into, well... into THIS (!!)

Even an opposing point of view, or constructive criticism, can be given in a manner that is not hurtful, or a "put-down"...

And implying one should shut up and stop asking for input/advice/support... well... that's just not nice. Suggest additional resources, sure, no problem, but implying that they should stop seeking advice/support here... ugh. Dissapointing.

Maybe I'd better just log off & go take a Midol.

PS: There IS some support & good advice on this thread, it's just that some of the other stuff is a bummer.

 

[WingingIt]

I skipped thru reading your (the OP) replies only, so forgive me if I'm repeating info. already given. If they are putting out a warrant for her you need to get in touch with the DA immediately. There is a possibility that your damages can be addressed by them and awarded to you at the same time she's put on trial (as restitution).

Good luck!

 

[flopshot]

Quote:
these people count on you assuming they're judgement proof and live their lives around that premise. it wouldn't jurt to find out. never know, the offending driver's next purchase might be a winning lottery ticket.

we've renewed judgements that were decades old and several have paid off.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
It's like that in life - you take the good with the bad... or in this case, what you didn't want to hear.

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
If someone has nothing you will get exactly nothing. Most people that don't have insurance on their car don't have anything. Yes it's a good idea to check. Some people are self insured. Odds are against it. As was previously mentioned most lawyers will not even take on a case like this unless you pay up front. Taking someone for everything they got will the all powerful lawyer is TV stuff. I'm an insurance appraiser. I do everything by the book, my decisions will hold up under scrutiny from the insurance commissioner. When people say "Give me give me or I'll call my lawyer"' My response is usually. "Please have him call me". Lawyers know the law and will not waste their time or mine posturing and making stupid demands. The OP should try to find out if the person that hit her has anything, but if she doesn't then a lawyer is a waste of good money.

I very well understand "Most" people but "Most" is not all, and as I stated if you do you can lose it all, to a "Liability" lawsuit. The OP may be able to take it to small claims.