Last month, my car was involved in an accident while my wife was driving. She was going straight, and another vehicle from the opposite lane was attempting to make a left turn. The other driver turned without slowing down or checking, and we T-boned. I have a police report and dashcam footage clearly proving that the other driver was at fault. However, the other driver's insurance company claims they must have a statement from the other driver before taking liability, but it's been a month and the other driver still hasn't answered their calls. Now they say they'll deny the claim because of "no contact".
Their insurance adjuster was really… It wasn't until 15 days after the crash that she realized the other driver was a different person from their insured, which was clearly written on the police report I sent her 3 days after the crash. She said because the other driver isn't listed on the policy, she couldn't accept liablity based off evidence I gave her. She could've said that way earilier but all she did was mess up and apologize.
Since I only had liability for my new car (I was a new international student at NCSU and really didn't know all the troubles without comprehensive insurance, so regretful), I can't fix my car with my insurance. Also, since technically the other driver has insurance, my uninsured coverage won't pay for the fix as well. I've consulted with the university's attorney, basically he says I can only sue the other driver directly. But he said that even if I win it'll be hard to collect any money from them.
The estimate for fixing the car is 5k-7k (not drivable now), plus two months' rental, and probably 2k drop in resale value. I don't know if any lawyer would take this case and make a difference. I really have no idea what to do next, should I get my car fixed out-of-pocket or continue waiting for their insurance? Is it real that they can get away with this by not cooperating at all? Really need some help here.
At fault driver not reponding to their insurance, and I only have liability
byu/SMLunarPig inInsurance
Posted by SMLunarPig
5 Comments
This question gets asked regularly. Yes, they need to hear from the insured. Yes, it sucks and is frustrating. But they represent the other party, and that is who their responsibility is to. Not you.
What you should do depends on your situation. I doubt a lawyer makes sense.
Did you pay cash for your new car or do you have a loan? A loan would’ve required comprehensive AND collision. If there’s a loan, this could be a problem for you. Either way you need to pay out of pocket, you don’t have coverage and the other insurer denied liability
> I’ve consulted with the university’s attorney, basically he says I can only sue the other driver directly. But he said that even if I win it’ll be hard to collect any money from them.
This sound like your only option at this point. Know that ~90% of the time when the other party is served suit papers in your situation they panic and call their insurer, and the insurer then gets the information they need to resume handling it. The other ~10% of the time they *still* fail to cooperate and you’ll have to continue through with a judgment and try to collect on it.
Sue the driver, the vehicle owner, and the insurance company. Not sure what state you’re in but the define isn’t insured, the vehicle is. So if the person had permission to drive the car by the owner, then they can’t deny the claim
In North Carolina, you can sue for up to $5000 in small claims court plus court costs reimbursed.
You will have to get the sheriff to serve everyone – the insured and the driver. You have to sue in the county where they live. I live in Wake but I was suing someone whose business agent was in Durham and had to file there.
I think it is likely that once the owner of the car receives notice of the case that they will contact their insurance because they will want them to pay.