I have a legal question

[ctgirlluvsmickey]

Hello all..I know that it has been a while since I have posted on the boards but I'm hoping that someone can answer my question.
On April 28 I was woken up at 330am by a police officer telling me that my car was inviled in an accident. It turns out that a drunk driver hit my car, a neighbor's car, and another neighbor's house. Both cars were totalled. Initially, I was told this man did not have insurance. BUt last week I got a letter stating that he has insurance and a business. The police had already taken him to the police station by the time they came to wake me up. I went through my insurance and of the 11,000 plus loan payoff, my insurance paid all but 2638.14. Now to the question, does anyone know if I can go after this man for the rest of the payoff of my loan or am I stuck paying on a car I no longer have?

thanks for your time

 

[Kissimmee JP]

Ok, I'm a paralegal that works in this type of stuff....however, this isn't legal advice...this is just what I see on a day-to-day basis...if you need advice, see an attorney.

Laws vary from state to state, but you should be able to get your money back for your car from his insurance. Your insurance will want to be reimbursed, so get them his insurance info. Also, if he has a cap on how much his insurance pays out, you're going to want to get your claim in asap. Sounds like he did a lot of damage.

If I were you, I'd go see a personal injury/property damage attorney. Call your state bar association and they can direct you to one.

Good luck.

 

[kiddo]

you received a letter stating this man has insurance.... why would you be stuck??? submit all your receipts along with the police report to this guys insurance company.... (not the originals!!! copies only) (C.Y.A.)
are any of the other people going after this guy??? maybe if you all met with a PI lawyer together it would make the case that much more appealing to that lawyer..

no offense to all the lawyers out there... but hey, $$ talks and poo poo walks! know what i mean?

i'm so sorry this has happened to you and all your funds are now pretty much depleted... but maybe, just maybe, you could walk out of there with all your $$ to replace what was spent and a little in your pocket..

GOOD LUCK!!! keep us posted...

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

with all due respect to my paralegal friend, I am a lawyer. I don't practice in connecticut, but I'll give you a NY law answer and you can see how connecticut law stacks up.


we are talking only about property damage here. your veichle was parked and unoccupied. different rules would apply to a bodily injury claim.


when you settled with your insurance company, you proably signed a release of some sort attesting to the value of the car. this may be sworn testimony, so if you sue the guy who hit your car, you'd be bound by the legal statements you made to your insurer. and yes, his lawyer will know exactly what you said to your insurer.

furthermore, your insurance company has subrogation rights. this means that they have acquired your right to sue the driver to the extent of the payment they made to you. if you sue the driver and don't tell your insurer you will have prejudiced their subrogation rights and they may be able to sue you to recover their payment to you. for all you know, they could have already made a claim against the driver's insurance policy. they would have found out about it before you did.

I am sorry this does not sound fair to you, but that's the way the law works.

edited to add -- send the letter regarding insurance to your insurer. if you paid a deductible ask them if they will collect your deductible when they pursue the driver's policy.

 

[gepetto]

Isn't the $2638.13 negative equity? Would any insurance company be liable for anything over fair market value? It sounds like bad luck but since you owe more for your car than it's worth you could very well get stuck paying it.

 

[NHAnn]

Hi ctgirl!! We met at the DISmeet in Marlboro Mass a couple of years ago!!
I'm sorry I have no legal insight for you, but I'm sorry your car got totalled

 

[ctgirlluvsmickey]

thank you everyone for your kind words and advice...I'll keep you all posted

NHAnn, Hello again...nice to hear from you!!!