Aaron and I were lucky enough to get a pretty nice tax return, which we used to pay off some debt. Before we decided how we were going to spend the money, I told Aaron that we should keep some money in our checking account in case anything happened, because lets be honest, any time we get money, something happens.
Well about 5 months ago Aaron's parents gave us a car. They said we could have the car, if we fixed the brakes, which was a blessing. All together it cost us about $900 to get new brakes in the car, which we just finished paying off. Well Last Friday Aaron was rear ended in our Taurus, the car, his parents gave us. It is now totaled. The right back side of the car is completely smashed in, and it will not start. So on to keeping some money in our account, Aaron had been meaning to insure the car, but had not done it yet, so we got a $550 ticket for it not being insured! I understand that it is our fault it was not insured, so I understand getting a ticket, but we did not cause the accident, that is a lot of money, shoot, its more than the car is worth.
Well Aaron got all of the girl's insurance information, and tried to call her insurance company. She is insured under an insurance company called Patriot, or so she said. We called Patriot and they said she was not insured there, even though the police wrote down her insurance information. So Aaron started calling her Monday, and no luck. She gave us her wrong phone number, luckily Aaron got a hold of her friend that was in the car and got her right number. She finally called us back Friday, saying she left her phone in another town, all week. Oh and she said she just found out that her insurance expired right before the accident, and she wanted to settle outside of court.
How did she not know her insurance expired that day? She is tricky!! She did not get a ticket for not having insurance, and the ticket she did get for causing the wreck was less than our ticket. So now we are out a car, it was an old car, but it worked just fine, we lost the $900 we paid to get the brakes fixed, we owe $550 on a ticket, Aaron's back still hurts, so he is going to the doctor, and she does not have insurance. So now we are trying to decide what to do. Do we settle outside of court, or do we take her to court? We don't want to ask to much, but she has been tricky and very unhelpful! Does anyone have any ideas on what we should do? We feel lost.
Aaron called a layer and is waiting to hear back from them. I suggested that we ask the police, but Aaron said that then she would get a $550 ticket. Oh life!!
A January Experiment
4 years ago
5 comments:
I am so sorry you have to deal with that. I had an accident on 2006 that I am s till tryin to settle. I hav had bad problems with my neck. I just hope something happens soon. Insurance companies are no fun to deal with!
Do what your lawyer says no matter what, but here's my initial reactions: If she's just a teenager or young adult then unfortunately she probably doesn't have any money to make it worth suing her (since you would have to pay the lawyer for time spent preparing for court, etc.). But if you have the feeling she has deep pockets (or her parents do) take her to court. Also, if you don't think she has money then don't do anything you think would lead her to get the big ticket, since that would just leave her with less money to give you. But get advice from someone on what to settle for - including doctor bills, etc. She obviously is afraid to go to court, so you can use that to your advantage.
Hope all is otherwise well!
Oh how horrible!! I hope you get things figured out soon!
I'm glad Aaron is relatively ok. I hope his back feels better soon. I hate car trouble, and I bet it's especially frustrating when caused by someone else.
Wow! I am so sorry! I wish I could help.
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