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Insurance: options when hit by uninsured motorist
159 messages, Last post on May 05, 2013 at 2:22 PM
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#148 of 159 Hit by uninsureds motorist, what are my chances in small claims? by momma2twins
Feb 12, 2011 (1:02 am)
Not sure if anyone will respond but here I go.On January 25th I was rear-ended by an uninsured motorist while stopped at a traffic light. She slid on snow and lost control of her car. Police were called to the scene. There was minor bumper damage to my truck. The officer looked at it and asked me if it was caused by her. In a shook up for being hit daze I said I didn't know if it was damage or the natural curve of the bumper. The damage was an indent on the bumper perfectly aligned with my trailer hitch so I (stupidly) though it may just be the way the bumper was designed. But I said I was not sure.
So I go home and didn't think much of it till my husband got home. He instantly say's that is definitely damage. After looking at it with a clear head I clearly can see that it is dented in! I immediately called the police officer and left a message for him that I had confirmed that the dent was caused by the accident. 11 days later he calls me back!!! He states that he was "On Vacation" okay fine whatever. So I tell him that after trying to file an insurance claim it appears that the woman who hit me gave false information. He says he'll investigate and call me back, never received a call back. I called 4-5 times during his shift and he was "too busy to talk". I actually had to go to the police station to find out what is going on.
It was confirmed that she was uninsured and that it was her mom's car she was driving at the time.
So I have the police report in front of me with a lot of incorrect information on it. Driver was not owner but report says she is. Driver did not have insurance but report says she did. Damage was done to my vehicle but report says no damage. I asked for it to be amended and was told no.
Filing a claim with my own insurance company is not going to happen. I am not going to pay a deductible and risk a rate hike or being kicked off our insurance. This was her fault and she should pay! So I am planning on filing a small claims case against the driver for the damages. The amount is not very much but still worth it in my opinion to file a suit.
I am not really worried about much else than the police report stating no damage. (which the officer refuses to amend even though he confirmed with me verbally that he saw the damage)
So based on the evidence I have what are the chance I will win a small claims case against her with the police report written wrong?
Thank you to any who read and respond. Hopefully what I wrote makes sense, sorry I ramble a lot.
#149 of 159 momma by marsha7
Feb 12, 2011 (6:50 am)
I appreciate your situation, but the "police report written wrong" was apparently because you had no idea if the vehicle bumper was damaged or designed that way...that says to me that this damage is so minor it almost doesn't matter...while the other driver should be cited (and fined) for false information, you will have a battle proving the damage when, at the scene, you didn't even know...I can also appreciate not making an insurance claim...my reco, and it's one you won't like, is to pay to fix it yourself, or, if the damage is that slight, just don't do anything at all, and learn from this experience...
#150 of 159 Re: medicjames and knoll [marsha7] by andres3
Apr 24, 2013 (5:06 pm)
Replying to: marsha7 (Jun 12, 2005 7:38 pm)
and your daughter exercised poor distance judgment...unless one of thsoe neighborhood radar units can prove her speed...heh, heh, heh... ____________________________________________
Whether the other car was going 10 under or 50 over the speed limit is irrelevant, they still had the right of way. A speeding car doesn't give you the right to get into an accident either on purpose or through negligent misjudgment.
#151 of 159 Re: Insurance minimums [gregjohnson] by andres3
Apr 24, 2013 (5:24 pm)
Replying to: gregjohnson (Aug 14, 2005 6:23 pm)
Of course the "safe" driver's would wail and moan about subsidizing "unsafe" driver's but that argument is silly because if you hit someone you are no longer a "safe" driver. ___________
Actually your argument is silly. Safe driver's don't cause accidents, as the vast majority of accidents are truly not an accident, but a "negligent" or "incompetent." In no fault insurance States costs are skyrocketing for the simple fact that if you are never to blame you might as well not worry about driving safely. You can cause as many accidents as you like and not pay any consequences, and therefore there is no "incentive" to drive safely.
It makes a huge difference. I'm convinced that less than 10% of the drivers out there cause over 90% of the claims costs.
#152 of 159 Re: I hesitate to recommend [marsha7] by andres3
Apr 25, 2013 (11:32 am)
Replying to: marsha7 (Nov 19, 2006 3:18 pm)
What about taking lots of pictures of the accident scene, and then moving the vehicles so traffic can flow? The pictures will document what had been the situation before anything was altered.
- marsha7 (May 01, 2013 7:16 pm)
Replies to this message:
#153 of 159 Re: I hesitate to recommend [andres3] by marsha7
May 01, 2013 (7:16 pm)
Replying to: andres3 (Apr 25, 2013 11:32 am)
I suppose it you MUST move the vehicles, then taking about 3,000 photos from different angles, including angles from local skyscrapers, the space station, the moon, and also thermographic images from 100 feet underground, and from any local sinkhole, MAY suffice to prove to an investigating officer what happened...you may also want about 30 minutes of video, certified by Dino De Laurentiis or Cecil B DeMille to the accuracy of the video, may be added...other than that, moving the cars will, IMO, confuse the average officer, who just may be unwilling to commit on paper who was "at fault" because he/she simply is no longer sure, kind of like disturbing the crime scene for the NCIS investigators, they do not see the scene as it really is/was...your mileage may vary...
#154 of 159 Re: I hesitate to recommend [marsha7] by michaell
May 02, 2013 (7:23 am)
Replying to: marsha7 (May 01, 2013 7:16 pm)
Here in Colorado there is a law that stipulates you must move vehicles involved in an accident out of the flow of traffic. Sorry, but if I'm ever in an accident, I'd rather take the fine than not have the investigating officer have an accurate as possible perspective of the scene.
- marsha7 (May 02, 2013 9:25 am)
Replies to this message:
#155 of 159 Re: I hesitate to recommend [michaell] by marsha7
May 02, 2013 (9:25 am)
Replying to: michaell (May 02, 2013 7:23 am)
"I'd rather take the fine than not have the investigating officer have an accurate as possible perspective of the scene." That is exactly my point...I hesitate to recommend that someone break the law, but I believe that law is truly counter to the interests of the victim in the wreck...sure, by not moving the cars, you cause a traffic backup, but so does a cop who pulls someone to the shoulder to issue a ticket for a taillight that does not work...
If, by moving the cars, it alters the reality of who was at fault, then the law does a disservice to the victim by making them move the cars before the police arrive, simply because it is almost always the police who determine who is at fault, unless you have multiple independent witnesses, and you must hope those witnesses actually stop and wait for the police, rather than head to work like the rest of the traffic...
Take the additional fine for blocking traffic which will cost a pittance, but at least you won't be charged with the accident when the cop views the scene...
In GA, if the cop is not sure, they can charge both parties equally, which means neither side recovers from the other, which also means that the other driver, who WAS at fault, gets away with it, and his insurance won't fix your car or your injuries, so you pay for your deductible (probably a much higher amount than the "blocked traffic" ticket) and you do not recover for your injuries...
Preserve the scene...stay there until the cop arrives...and make the other guy pay for his poor driving...
- michaell (May 02, 2013 1:03 pm)
Replies to this message:
#156 of 159 Re: I hesitate to recommend [marsha7] by michaell
May 02, 2013 (1:03 pm)
Replying to: marsha7 (May 02, 2013 9:25 am)
Preserve the scene...stay there until the cop arrives...and make the other guy pay for his poor driving... Exactly!
#157 of 159 Re: I hesitate to recommend [marsha7] by igozoomzoom
May 03, 2013 (11:44 am)
Replying to: marsha7 (May 01, 2013 7:16 pm)
marsha- you know we have the "If you steer it, clear it" law here in Georgia. =) But it only applies if I am at-fault, which is possible in theory I suppose, but could never happen....well, probably couldn't happen, not again....just kidding, although it has been 7.5yrs since my last at-fault accident and it caused less than $1000 damage to the other car. I was driving my commuter car, a 14yr old Accord with a bad paint job, that only had liability, so there was no claim on it. Staying under $1000 actually had little impact on my premium. It was only when I got a ticket two years later that I had a problem, then I was surcharged for both the accident and the speeding ticket for a year and it almost doubled my insurance premium!
After that one rough year, the accident was over three years old and most insurers didn't count it. I had to switch companies because the one I had for that year refused to recalculate my renewal premium without the accident because the renewal offer was sent out six days before the 3-year anniversary of the accident...I followed the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" philosophy apparently, otherwise I have no idea how and why I became an insurance agent!?!?!
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