do i have grounds to sue?

[anaerosmithchic]

I was in an accident on Tuesday, I was going straight and the lady made a left right into my right of way, slammed on brakes to try and avoid but hit the back end of her car. Well after dealing with her and my insurance, her insurance finds me 20% liable for the accident (something my insurance doesn't even agree with!). I have a witness who states that when she made the left she didn't even slow down or stop. Oh they are sayint I am 20% liable because i was 'speeding', i was not given a ticket, she was tickted for careless driving. this finding is based on the damage to her car.
My question is if I can't find someone to fix my car for the 80% of the estimate can I take the driver of the other car to court to pay for the rest of the damages since it is so very clear she is at fault.
Also there are cameras at that intersection, can I just call and ask for the video from when the accident happened?
I have witnesses and there was one more car involoved (the other driver hit it) who all say she is at fault and I tried to avoid her.

 

[tpajet]

The short answer is YOU will not need to sue. Your insurance company will. Florida is a no-fault state. What that means is that you don't normally deal with the other driver's insurance. You deal with your own. They fix your car, can go after her insurance company. You can deal with the other driver's insurance if you want, and in fact I did just that a couple years ago when I got rear ended. That was a pretty clear cut deal, even though the police were not called. The advantage there was that her insurance company had to provide a rental car, where as I don't carry rental car coverage on my policy.

In your case, however, you need to handle this through your own insurance company. Especially if they disagree that you were at fault in any way. They will then go after her company, and if they fail to pay up, will provide you a lawyer to sue her.

So long story short, handle this one through your own insurance company. If at the end of your policy term they want to raise your rates, shop around and go with someone else. A quote is good for something like 30 days or so, so you can even call back and tell them you have another quote, and if they still insist on raising your rates, drop them.

 

[mightymoose]

I believe when you posted this the other day it was suggested that you handle this through the other person's insurance.
Given the circumstances now, you could have it covered by YOUR insurance, and then your company will settle the matter with the other agency. If you do it this way you might have to pay your deductible upfront, but it can be reimbursed by your insurance company later... talk it over with them... this is normal.