Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Long story short, I was involved in a hit and run accident last year. I have exhausted every possible way of settling this just short of uncivilized revenge.
I found out the owner of the vehicle within 2 days. Police did a weak investigation on the whole thing, never actually speaking to him in person. From there, I went thru free mediation with him, then his insurance company...who in turned denied it because he claimed someone else other than him was driving and he's the only 1 listed on the policy. When I tried to get help from accident attorney's, they weren't willing to help because I wasn't technically injured.
Shortly after that, I filed a lawsuit. Well, the day of the lawsuit there was major construction on the same street of the courthouse (on a Saturday morning of all days) that held up traffic for 40 minutes. I ended up missing the court date and case was dismissed.
So, I re-filed again in December. Paid $90 to do it. The court stupidly mailed a summons to him, which in turn got sent back to the court as un-executed/un-delivered. At that point, I contacted his work and to my surprise, apparently he still lives at the same address but he purposely didn't claim the debt. He then lied about going up to the courthouse upon recieving the letter but I found out he didn't.
So, court wants me to pay another $60 to send something to his work. But I am DONE with dealing with the court. I've sent letters to the judge on 2 occasions concerning this case and its like a brick wall. Its already been over a year now and I've got nothing of the $3,000 in damage.
So, I'm just wondering if anyone has been in this position? I now live over 900 miles from where the person lives at, and I'm just feeling that if I forget about it I'll never get anything back from it...meanwhile he walks free.
I really don't want to do the revenge that I have plotted out, but after being told no by insurance, attorneys, judge and him...and then having his job threaten to prosecute me if I continued calling to reach him (he has no other number)...leaves me helpless but to execute a 'tasteless payback routine'. Any suggestions?
I assume you did not have any collision insurance or uninsured motorist coverage on your vehicle because if you did you could have turned it in to your own company and they would have applied the deductible, paid you the difference and taken the claim against him by subrogation. Thats the way 99% of the hit and run claims are handled since there is usually no one identified as the tortfeasor.
So next time, get some insurance.
PS, if you are in Florida, which it looks like you may be, I think Florida is a no fault state and so the deductible might not even apply. Perhaps someone will comment on that but I am guessing you were not insured.
then his insurance company...who in turned denied it because he claimed someone else other than him was driving and he's the only 1 listed on the policy.
Insurance follows the car, not the driver. If I let a friend drive my car and he hits someone, MY insurance covers the damage since insurance follows the the car.
Insurance follows the car, not the driver. If I let a friend drive my car and he hits someone, MY insurance covers the damage since insurance follows the the car.
What insurance company does the claimant have?
You are right that insurance follows the car, but only covers authorized drivers. So unless the bad actor ID's the driver and admits to authorizing him, the coverage doesn't extend to that driver. Also, the insurance excludes members of the insured's household who are not named in the policy.
I assume you did not have any collision insurance or uninsured motorist coverage on your vehicle because if you did you could have turned it in to your own company and they would have applied the deductible, So next time, get some insurance.
PS, if you are in Florida, which it looks like you may be,
Its funny how people tend to blame the victim in cases like this. Yet, the law REQUIRES people to carry liability insurance...yet the insurance companies don't want to pay **** and try to think up 50 million reasons why not to. That's why I hope anyone who works in insurance goes to hell in a hand-basket. That man's insurance should have covered his ass. His car hit my car. Period.
I had never been in an accident with another car before this happened, my driving record is squeaky clean.
Actually the incident happened in Texas...And as far as insurance goes, at my age its just so damn expensive for basic liability. And to add on everything else it becomes seemingly pointless when you go 4 years without an accident.
The insurance company was called ACCC Claims...some shady Texas based company that has NUMEROUS complaints on google. Just type in ACCC Claims. They are awful, and they rather their insured to be sued than to cover their ass. And since I can't get help the legal way, I'm going to have to go the illegal way to get back what was taken from me. What else is there to do? Sit back and let him just do that to me? 1 year later and the pain and anger still keeps me up at night. There's only 1 way to stop it.
So yes, payback isn't just a *****...its real. And its soothing to the soul...
To "blame the victim" all I said was get some insurance next time. You can take that as blaming the victim if you want to but I don't see someone with uninsured motorist coverage complaining. And, you sound like you want to blame and insurance company for something they had nothing to do with. And, if you want to know why insurance is expensive for your age group which I assume is the under 25 crowd, then tale a look at their behavior and I think you will see that if insurance companies were free to act solely in their own interest they wouldn't insure young drivers at all.
You're still at the beginning stages of your frustration. If and when you finally get a judgment against the other driver, that's all you will have. A judgment. You'll still have no money, and nobody in the court will lift a finger to persuade the party to satisfy the judgment. He'll just never pay, and then you will have to go through the same kinds of court procedures all over again to try to garnish his wages or something, and then a few dollars a month will trickle in until the court again loses interest.
I hope it didn't surprise you that the insurance company could think of reasons why they did not need to pay the settlement. When you are driving to work tomorrow morning, keep in mind that EVERY car is being driven by an uninsured driver, because all their insurance companies will simply refuse to pay you for any damages, and they've got better lawyers than you have. Your only protectin is to pay your insurance company $500 or $1000 a year for collision coverage, so when it is somebody else's fault, they'll need to settle with your insurance company with a pat at the back on the golf course.
You are right that insurance follows the car, but only covers authorized drivers. So unless the bad actor ID's the driver and admits to authorizing him, the coverage doesn't extend to that driver. Also, the insurance excludes members of the insured's household who are not named in the policy.
Unless the car was stolen, I'm pretty sure that whoever was driving it at the time of the accident had permission to drive it from the owner. If that's the case, coverage applies.
Insurance DOES NOT exclude members of insureds household UNLESS they are specifically EXCLUDED BY NAME on the policy. Again, if you as an owner let someone borrow your car for occasional use, they are covered under your policy.
The insurance company was called ACCC Claims...some shady Texas based company that has NUMEROUS complaints on google. Just type in ACCC Claims. They are awful, and they rather their insured to be sued than to cover their ass.
American Century Casualty Company does not appear to even be operating anymore.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
