Thinking about taking a person to small claims court. (Tallahassee: lease, insurance)

[8.00 per hour]

Basically a individual hit my car and has no insurance, my insurance covered the cost but I lost my deductible of 500.

Basically, myself, nor my insurance company can contact him at all, I went to his house and he's not home, phone doesn't work or anything of that matter.

Can I take this guy to small claims court to get back my 500?

What procedures do I need to handle this issue?

[MiamiRob]

8.00 you will win a judgement against this person. The problem now lies with trying to collect it since he couldn't afford basic insurance in the first place.The amount of court costs alone tells me to cut your losses now and I know it is not fair. Good luck.

[beentheredidthat]

who hit you? was it someone born in america? someone who will care about having a judgement against them?
think about these questions before you decide to sue or not...you may just end up wasting your time/money with sueing this person.

usually you just go to the courthouse, and file the paperwork there, you need the persons full name and other info so they can be served, fill out some other forms, and pay a fee.

[8.00 per hour]

It's a Haitian man, he was driving a really old car at the time. He has insurance under his wife name but not on the car that he hit me with.

I paid my 500 to get my car fixed but I want the money back from him, I haven't been able to contact him at all, the phone I have for him isn't valid and when I went to his house he isn't home.

I've never taken a person to court before but I think I can do something but I can't just lose 500 bucks like that in these tough times.

[8.00 per hour]

I have the option of going to the Plantation Police Department since they were the ones that wrote up the actual incident report when it happened, however I don't know what they will do.

I do want my money back.

[Nolefan34]

Wait, explain to me why the police didn't arrest the guy for driving without insurance? Did the guy leave the scene before the police got there? How did you find out where the guy lives? Do the police know where he lives? If the police know all of the information, the ball is in their court and they'll either arrest the guy for a crime or not arrest him. They'll either investigate the case or not investigate the case. If he hasn't been arrested yet and they haven't even done any investigation, then it means either they cannot find the guy or just don't care. Remember, the police are only interested in pursuing criminal charges not civil cases. They could care less about your $500 deductible. You'll need to obtain a copy of the police report for your own records if you wish to pursue a civil case. But I don't see how going back to the police helps if they already know everything. They'll just give you the "we'll be in touch" routine.

What you need to do is obtain some kind of physical proof that he hit you or else its your word against his and he can deny it. He may not even be driving the same care. If he was smart he probably ditched that thing since it is evidence. If you know where he lives, go to his house after work when you know his car will be home while its still somewhat light out and bring a camera with you. Take pictures of his car where the damage occurred and the license plate, and also take pictures of his house and any identifying landmarks such as the number on his house or a mailbox with his name on it. If you have a video camera that's even better. IF you report it to the police, they'll probably do the same thing. But they'll keep whatever pictures they take so you'll have to subpoena them as evidence in your civil case. That means you'll have to proceed with filing a civil case before you'll get the pictures.

That said, you'll never see that 500 dollars again. Cut your losses and deal with it. You'll spend more than the 500 dollars in court fees, time/lost wages, and stress. So you'd be suing based on principle, because the guy doesn't have the 500 dollars to pay you even if your case is successful. I know it hurts, but sometimes you have to let things go. Remember, time is money. The more time you spend in court the more money you'll lose trying to recover your 500 dollars. Also, the $500 deductible is a clause between you and your insurance company. Getting $500 back from the guy isn't going to offset the increase in insurance that you'll sustain as a result of the accident claim. Your insurance will permanently be unfavorable to you because of what this guy did to you. Its life.

[runswithscissors]

OK, if you didn't file a police report at the time, I don't know what to tell you to get cop help.

If you did, there's a report that your insurance company got from them saying if it was his fault. Get a copy from the ins company. Then go to the police station and ask if they are filing any charges and is there a court date. You never know what happened after you drove away (unless you've been speaking to the police since then). The guy could have been arrested for something else or left the address or anything....

Then if there's a court day I think they'll tell you to be there. You go there and plea to the judge to enter a judgment against the guy. Save yourself the small claims step. She may tell you to go to small claims, I don't know.

If there's no charge being filed ask why etc.

Meanwhile go to the county clerk office and ask about filing in small claims court. I believe the fee will be $150.00 which is hefty but go and discuss it anyway. You only recover it from the defendant.

They are nice there if it's Broward, they helped me alot with my rent scammer. They tried everything they could to get him he has 140 appearances at court and over 20 judgments and leins.

You can look the guy up on the Broward County Clerk site for other appearances and judgments. True, he probably has nothing for you to get your 500.00 back but you never know. He might have a legal job and you might be able to get a wage garnishment.

If you get a judgment it only means you have to file a levy against his property and the sheriff can sell certain things or a wage garnishment possibly, I don't know the law in Florida about this but they can tell you.

It's a PITA but if you have time, check it out anyway. I agree it's not worth filing on principle. Even if he owns his home it's only touchable when he sells it after existing judgments and debts are deducted.

Your judgment collects interest too.

I didn't file against my rent scammer and lost 2400.00 in rent. I still might. It was proven by another scammed tenant that the creep FORGED her signature on a phony lease and the JUDGE DID NOTHING ABOUT IT and said it was a civil matter. Can you believe that?

I don't think it's true that all police will always decide it's worth the trouble to pursue something like this on their own, even if they should have to begin with. But if you go there and complain they might.

You may end up with his p.o.s. car, though lol. A backup for you.

[8.00 per hour]

He has insurance but it's not under the car he was driving. It's a long story but I'm gonna give this over to the cops.

[Nolefan34]

Ahh ok. I thought you meant he was uninsured altogether. See how facts make a huge difference?

[rscope4]

I took someone to court who hit me and was uninsured. Make sure to take a copy of the accident report that was filed with the county records to you small claims hearing. I won my case and later found out that I could have the woman's license suspended, along with her father's license since the car was in his name. You contact the driver's license bureau in Tallahassee and they take care of it. Once they paid the judgement along with interest and court fees that I also sued for, they could get their reinstatement, but not before then. I got my check 3 months after I did all that.