In early September i was involved in a minor wreck with someone. I was pulling into a parking lot while they were coming out. They took a left hand turn and swiped my bumper. We exchanged insurance information, etc... I had an appraiser come out to view the damage and he concluded it would cost $299.32 cents to fix my bumper. I talked with the individual who hit me and he agreed to pay out of pocket rather than going through his insurance because he didn't want his rates to be raised. The individual was just starting a new job so i was patient while waiting for my money. I finally received it on November 11th, 3 months after the wreck. Due to a full work load, finals, etc... i was unable to cash the check until December 6th, 3 weeks later. I took the car and had it repaired that afternoon. It was finished the next day. Today we checked our bank statement and it said that a $299.32 check had bounced. So, we were forced to dip into our savings to pay for the repairs. This evening i called the Indivdual and asked him why he had canceled his check. He said that i had, had plenty of time to cash it and he wasn't going to wait any longer. I told him to think about what he planned on doing and to get back with me later tonight. About 30 minutes ago i received a phone call from this individual. He was very billigerent. He began threatening me asking me if "I wanted to come to his house to box n**ga. He basically told me i was lying about getting my car fixed, saying i was using that money to shop and he wasn't going to do a damn thing. He then hung up the phone. I had my mom call him up shortly after and leave a message on his answering machine, because she can be a b**** to people and thats what i needed. She threatened to file the 300 dollar claim on HIS insurance or take him to small claims court. One way or another something would be done. Shortly after her phone call he calls back. My mom once again explains the situation to him and he still makes comments like "I bet it didn't even cost that much" etc... She managed to convince him by threatening to file on his insurance. He said he would have it to us by Feb 1st. He's having a hard time because of tuition and books. Obviously after this ordeal we aren't totally convinced we'll ever see the money. So my questions to those with some legal knowledge. Can we still go back and file a claim on his insurance 4 months after the wreck and get our money? Can we take him to small claims court and get our money? If he fails to deliver the money, what if anything can we do? Thanks in advance
I'd probably just go box him. That's easier than dealing with insurance companies. Once you beat him up, then you should have intercourse with his girlfriend. That will really teach him. Seriously though, I'm not a lawyer, but you're being way too nice with him to even think about giving him until February to pay the bill. I'd tell him that if he doesn't pay by tomorrow then it's going on his insurance. That's why he has liability insurance in the first place. You're too nice with him. I would never trust some fool that asks you to "box n**ga" and promises to pay you later, even after he has a history of not paying. He's taking you for all you're worth, and currently he's winning.
The threat of having his insurance rates increased or going to small claims court seemed to scare him. Apparently he has to pay his own college tuition, his books, his car insurance, etc... An 18 year old with a wreck on his record is going to cause a nice jump in his rates. Up until tonight he was been very cooperative. Honestly everything was going smoothly. He started a new job so i gave him the time to get the money. I believe he's only 18 so i don't even know if he fully understood the concept of a bounced check. Everything just hit the fan tonight. We will go to the insurance if he doesn't pay this time. And if he does pay it will be in cash.
if you end up boxing him, just make sure his name is not Kimbo. and remember to bring some bread along with you.
The boxing comment caught me way off guard. It was somewhat funny but at the same time quite strange. If we could look beyond on that for a moment... I just want to know if i can still file a claim after 4 months if necessary, and if there are any other measures i can take if he try's to weasel his way out of paying again.
Just file with his insurance and be done with it. Why are you making it harder on yourself? Screw giving this clown chances to handle it reasonably. Take control of the situation.
Hes going to have a hard time with the insurance company: a) Hes already had his car fixed b) There was no police report made Im assuming c) The guy is surely going to tell his insurance company that it wasn't his fault, or, that this accident didn't happen at all Take him to small claims court. Its probably your only hope based on my experience.
1.) There was no police report 2.) When the accident happened he talked to his insurance and they were the ones who advised him to pay out of pocket.
Then they key would be, did he assume liability when he called it in? If so, call them and let them handle it. Letting an individual handle it is a losing proposition. The guy has been so difficult with you, you have little hope of working it out with him. You dont have to have his permission to file on his carrier.
I would assume he did accept the liability. From Day 1 he has admitted it was his fault. If the decision were up to me i would have filed it on his insurance this morning, but my mom, who the car is still registered to, wants to go this route. He wants to pay it in 2 installments. The first installment would be due within 3 weeks. So, if we don't get anything at that point in time a claim will be filed. I just hope i can find his insurance information, its been a while. Originally i called my insurance and gave them his information so i'm sure i could get access to it that way as well. I should have probably said this in my very first post. Along the way another car repair came up involving replacing the CV Joints and outer and inner tire rods. Obviously that needed to be addressed so i used his money to pay for that work rather than the bumper soley because that affected the driving ability, which is one reason why i would like to have the cash from him rather than go through insurance.
JPM0016, The thing to keep in mind though is, his discussions with his insurance company were probably preliminary and they never did an actual investigation. So once you file the claim, they are going to start from scratch and get his side of things. So he could change his tune to get out of the claim, especially if he is a jerk, which it sounds like he is. The longer you wait to file the claim, the harder its going to be to recover damage from the insurance carrier, especially without a police report. Whatever you do, do not tell the insurance company about your tie rods and stuff. Its not pertinant to your claim and could possibly hurt your cause if you tell them you need the money to pay that. Insurance companies are funny about someone using their money to pay for something other that what they owe for.
I didn't intend to. I just wanted to throw that information out there just to make sure it wouldn't affect filing a claim about the bumper. Just trying to cover everything. I don't know if he will pay but suspect he's going to now. Up until last night everything was going through me. He started to back peddle once he was threatened with legal action and higher insurance rates. He already shelled out the money once, he just canceled the check because i didn't cash it soon enough (At least to him) One way or another he will pay, very soon.
HA HA HA that was great, have any of you seen the video where he loses? Me and my friend have tried a few different places but they all didnt work when we tried to load the video.
Codell makes all the good points so there's not much more for me to add. In my view, you've already gone way past the typical grace period for being kind. Although this should not be taken as legal advice for your particular case, here's what I would do. Assuming I believe I have a good case, I would file a claim in small claims court. The other guy will receive a summons and know I'm serious. I would still try to settle out of court as that is best; you just never know what may happen in court. I would call his insurance company as well. If you decide to accept money from the other guy again, you should accept only a cashier's check or money order. Good luck.
I haven't tried small claims court but I have had checks bounce on me before. You can take the check back to his bank on a payday and present it again and if there is enough money in his account, they'll cash it for you. If that doesn't work, bouncing checks is illegal and you can file a claim downtown at the DA's office. I had to take that route about a year ago and at this stage there is finally a warrant out for the person's arrest but I still haven't received my money. I think nothing really happens unless the person gets pulled over for speeding or something. So, if you have the time to wait for your money, you could try that.
I think he said the guy actually stopped payment, so that guys bank won't pay the check no matter how much $ he has in the account. Another thing to consider when going to small claims court is, even if you are victorious, you will still have to collect on the judgement, which can be an additional cost to you.
