Since he didn't have insurance coverage, you basically have to take him to small claims court for the damage. Or if you have uninsured motorist coverage under your insurance, that will cover the damages. *been in a rear end accident and have had an experience with a person crashing into my parents parked car with no insurance.
whatever works for you. my damage was in excess of $4000. the last thing i wanted to be doing was messing around with small claims court. screw that. but, i hate court rooms so... . and, there is no guarantee you will collect anyway even if judgement goes against the guy. how much could your premiums go up over that little amount of damage? you got me curious, though, as to how much my premiums took a hit cause i didn't even bother paying attention to that. i'll have to check on that.
#1 You will have to pay the costs of filing a small claims suit. #2 You need evidence that the accident occurred and that he is at fault. Expect him to deny he was at the scene and that the accident was caused by his car. How do you plan on proving your case. The burden is on you. #3 You will have to file summons, and find out where he lives. #4 You are looking at 3-4 court dates #5 If his insurance is expired, most likely he is judgment proof and you will never collect. Is it still worth it to you?
- $104 for filing small claim cases - If I were at fault, he would be asking me for my info. He didn't and instead provided fake info to me. (have pictures of his license plate, dent on my car, and his hand holding down his expired insurance card) - I can look up the license plate for a fee. - Sure. - I just want to nail this *******. Money is entirely secondary at the moment. I might be fuming right now, but I could be pretty stubborn at times. We'll see how I feel about this tomorrow.
dude, that's not what i meant lol....They should call the cops, but not through 911. They can use the non emergency line.
don't both parties usually get tickets regardless of who is at fault if a cop comes? or, is that a myth?
That is a myth. In most cases no one receives a citation. Sometimes if there is a terrible accident they will pick the "most" at fault party and ticket them. I am an attorney and I will always call the cops when there is a traffic accident involving damages, I have seen too many times where something happens that causes the at fault party to get away with it.
All very good feedback and it's good info for something that will happen to all of us at some point in our lives. What I gathered: Call the cops if damage is involved and start snapping photos/videos immediately in addition to collecting the usual DL, phone #, insurance & license plate info.
Since the damage happened in the rear, it's not catastrophic . I would have given him two options: Give me $1,000 I am calling the cops
Same thing happened to me a few years ago. He was driving his sister's car, but I called his phone and it rang, got license #, plate #, VIN, but without the insurance info and the accident claim I was effed.
Texas is one of the most difficult states in which to get money in small claims court. In most situations, a judgment only allows you to put a lien on any property the other person owns. That costs money and you're only going to see money if they try to sell the property. Unless its a case where both sides are actively involved in the dispute, small claims is a waste of time. Get your insurance involved - you're paying for their services so you might as well use them.
