At-Fault Party Denies Responsibility

[echoi22683]

What is the name of your state? California

Hi -

I have a scenario where a driver, clearly at default, denies responsibility for the accident (running a stop sign and hitting my car). I only have liability on my insurance. The other party's insurance said that it won't be paying for the damages. Is there anything I can do at this time? The accident occurred a week ago. There was no witness at the time.

 

[racer72]

Sue the other driver for your damages.

 

[dmf32835]

Sue

File a Civil Suit.

 

[ecmst12]

More information needed. Did you both have stop signs or just him?

 

[echoi22683]

The other party's direction had a stop sign. There is no stop sign in the direction I was heading. If I do file a suit, what are the chances? There isn't much evidence aside from the dents on my car and the other party's car.

 

[ecmst12]

The evidence is that he had a stop sign and you did not. Sounds pretty clear cut to me. What is the other guy saying happened?

 

[echoi22683]

I don't know what the other guy is saying. I haven't spoken with him. But it is clear to me that he is denying fault since his insurance is not planning to pay for the damages. Otherwise, I would assume his insurance would proceed to paying. I want to get an idea of how to file a suit, because it will be his words against mine. He can probably come up with a number of different twists.

 

[Zigner]

How much is the damage worth? If under $7,500 - file in small claims.

Did you file an accident report?
What is the actual reason the other insurance refuses to pay? (It might not just be a matter of denying liability - perhaps his insurance lapsed?)

 

[juris10]

file charges

I advise that you file an accident report, get a lawyer, and sue the erring driver for damages before the statute of limitations expire.

 

[seniorjudge]

Sue the other driver for your damages.

Sue the other driver for your damages.



(Is that an echo in here???)

 

[echoi22683]

Thanks for everyone's responses. I'm going to contact the other party directly and it's insurance to find out the truth. Unfortunately, no accident report was filed. I will go ahead with that as well.

 

[Zigner]

Thanks for everyone's responses. I'm going to contact the other party directly and it's insurance to find out the truth. Unfortunately, no accident report was filed. I will go ahead with that as well.

What was the $ amount of the damages? If it was over $750 to any one party, then it was required anyway...

 

[ecmst12]

You don't need to file an accident report. There's no point to it now, no investigation can be done, and you already have the other driver's insurance information. You need to call the insurance company and ask WHY they are denying your claim.

 

[Zigner]

You don't need to file an accident report. There's no point to it now, no investigation can be done, and you already have the other driver's insurance information. You need to call the insurance company and ask WHY they are denying your claim.

This is not correct. In California, a report is REQUIRED by LAW if the damage is over $750 (to any one party), or if there are ANY injuries.

The benefit to this is, if the other party's insurance lapsed, they will have their license suspended.


PS: I am speaking of the DMV report - not a police report...

 

[ecmst12]

California HAS to be different, eh?