A week ago, my husband got into a car accident. He was hit by a driver from the side at an intersection while he (my husband) was on a green light, which means that the other driver break the red light. After the hit, my husband's car got out of control, spinned (it was raining so slippery condiitons) and hit a city bus. Our car, which worth almost 12 to 13 thousand dollars is totaled now. Police report also acknowledges that the other driver was using a cell phone while my husband was going faster. We unfortunately did not had full coverage. But, our insurance company and lawyer told us that the other driver is at mistake and her insurance company will pay the demages. However, later we found out that her insurance had been terminated. We are told to sue her in small court claim, which can only give us no more than $5000 (not even half the price of the car). We paid the tow truck and parking garage almost $400. My husband went to police to inform them about her terminated insurance but they did not pay any attention and advised him to sue her over demages. We are at loss and confused. What is exactly we should be doing since she got no insurance?
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Car Accident and at fault driver without insurance
- Thread Starter mahzeesh
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army judge
Super Moderator
Find a lawyer.
Small claims is useless.
A lawyer will advise you how to proceed.
You'll have to sue her.
If she has no assets, you'll have to eat the loss.
If your state has a crime victims fund, they might offer you some help.
Google crime victims assistance (your state).
You should have purchased a more comprehensive insurance policy.
Small claims is useless.
A lawyer will advise you how to proceed.
You'll have to sue her.
If she has no assets, you'll have to eat the loss.
If your state has a crime victims fund, they might offer you some help.
Google crime victims assistance (your state).
You should have purchased a more comprehensive insurance policy.
mightymoose
Moderator
This is the risk you take when you do not have full coverage.
Before you go to court see if you can find out if the other driver even has anything worth suing for, otherwise you are just wasting more money.
As you describe it, sadly, it sounds as if you are on the hook for the car with little to no assistance from insurance.
Before you go to court see if you can find out if the other driver even has anything worth suing for, otherwise you are just wasting more money.
As you describe it, sadly, it sounds as if you are on the hook for the car with little to no assistance from insurance.
Both comments here are extremely good. I'm just going to supplement.
Before you begin your case, perform a little research on the defendant. If they have no assets (and the reason for not even having insurance) then winning a lawsuit will be an empty victory. Most people do not understand that there isn't a bailiff waiting to hand you a check after you walk out of the People's Court. That's only the beginning in the real world. You then have to begin the process of enforcement, which there are additional costs that you will have to put out up front. The system needs changing in this regard. To understand, you'll need to begin that process and (a) go through the game of demanding the money, (b) find the money if they don't pay, and (c) pay someone such as a city marshal to seize the asset (assuming you've done the searching properly and are able to "freeze" it in place.
My thought - you can try suing them "pro se" or by yourself in civil court if the defendants may not have assets. The risk is that you'll be spending some money on filing costs and more in time and money to deal with a potential trial. At this point the defendants may be "judgment proof." A small claims court action can be viewed as a way of partial recovery for economic loss. Here's an interesting idea. For any of the additional expenses you have incurred, you could take care of those bills yourself - but I'm not sure it's necessary (and you'll see where I'm going.) If you are both joint owners of the car, it's possible each of you could file a case in small claims court. It might not reach the amount you should receive but it takes you far closer to the goal with the minimal amount of risk.
Wish there was a better answer. Best of luck to you.
Before you begin your case, perform a little research on the defendant. If they have no assets (and the reason for not even having insurance) then winning a lawsuit will be an empty victory. Most people do not understand that there isn't a bailiff waiting to hand you a check after you walk out of the People's Court. That's only the beginning in the real world. You then have to begin the process of enforcement, which there are additional costs that you will have to put out up front. The system needs changing in this regard. To understand, you'll need to begin that process and (a) go through the game of demanding the money, (b) find the money if they don't pay, and (c) pay someone such as a city marshal to seize the asset (assuming you've done the searching properly and are able to "freeze" it in place.
My thought - you can try suing them "pro se" or by yourself in civil court if the defendants may not have assets. The risk is that you'll be spending some money on filing costs and more in time and money to deal with a potential trial. At this point the defendants may be "judgment proof." A small claims court action can be viewed as a way of partial recovery for economic loss. Here's an interesting idea. For any of the additional expenses you have incurred, you could take care of those bills yourself - but I'm not sure it's necessary (and you'll see where I'm going.) If you are both joint owners of the car, it's possible each of you could file a case in small claims court. It might not reach the amount you should receive but it takes you far closer to the goal with the minimal amount of risk.
Wish there was a better answer. Best of luck to you.
Even if she did have assets, couldn't she claim bankruptcy and not be liable to pay anything? I know I've read in situation where the claim is in the hundreds of thousands, that people have declared bankruptcy in order to avoid having to pay or suffer any financial hardship. I would think a lawyer could do a little background work in checking whether she has any assets although you might have to pay the lawyer fees to do that.
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