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can I go to small claims court?

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fiona4ever

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?
Arizona

I was backing out of a parking spot at a Walgreens, and when my car's rear end was hanging out just slightly, I concluded that the other person that was pulling out of their spot in reverse didn't see me. I immediately put my car in first gear to pull back in and honked the horn for about 2 seconds before I got hit (before I actually managed to pull back in to the spot all the way).
The person driving the other car was the insured persons cousin. She got on the phone with her cousin who owned the car and stated something to the effect of "I think it was my fault, since her car's messed up."
I got the insurance information and name of the driver. We did not get a police report.
Now due to being flustered from the accident, I did not get the address of the driver.
I did not even report this to my insurance company because I only have liability and it was her fault, and we didn't see any damage on her car (even though I did not look very closely).
The insurance company offered me 50/50 liability. This is not acceptable, as the damage was $1600. Can I take the woman or the insurance company to small claims court, even if I don't have the address of the driver?
Thx.What is the name of your state?
 


ecmst12

Senior Member
You can take the owner to small claims court. Not the insurance company. It would be best to name both the driver AND the owner in the suit though.

You were going forward and the other driver was reversing. Therefore it was her fault. However, can you PROVE that you were not reversing at the time of the collision? You will have to, in order to get the judge to assign 100% fault to the other driver. Were there any witnesses?
 

fiona4ever

Junior Member
small claims court

Hello,
No I don't have any witnesses, so I can't prove that I was pulling forward. If I did go to court with this person, and I can't prove that I was pulling forward, but she manages to get somebody to lie for her and say it was my fault, could the judge deny me the 50/50 liability that the insurance company offered?
Because I know if she was to not show up to the court hearing, I would automatically be awarded the win by default, so it may be worth it just for that possibility, but only if the worst case scenario that could happen if she did show up would be 50/50 just like the insurance company offered.
I see you are a senior member. Does that mean you are a lawyer, a law student, or something else?
Thanks for your help.
fiona4ever
 

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