How many times can I sue a person?

[DeltaD]

What is the name of your state? Texas

on 12/19/05 a lady hit my car from the rear and totaled it but she doesn't have insurance (I bet she's lying bc it's a brand new car bought from a dealer).
I've contacted her numerous of times but she refuses to talk about any kind of settlement. my insurance only cover liability so now i'm without a car and no rental.
I got a lawyer to try to get her insurance already but I'm guessing she wont put out. I don't want to keep pulling this thing out because I'm a college student and I need a mode of transportation.

My next plan is to sue her using the small Claim's court which I can only get $5,000 max. My question is this: can i sue her numerous times? because my car is worth $7500. If I can't sue her for the same case again, then I plan to sue her to pay for my medical bill, towing/storage, and lost of wages while I was in rehap. So is it possible to sue someone more than once for the same incident? but for different reason. Is there any tips on trying to get someone to pay? she have a job and a 2003 Nissan Xterra so i know she's capable of paying.
any advice will be helpful. thanks in advance

Originally Posted by DeltaD

What is the name of your state? Texas

on 12/19/05 a lady hit my car from the rear and totaled it but she doesn't have insurance (I bet she's lying bc it's a brand new car bought from a dealer).
I've contacted her numerous of times but she refuses to talk about any kind of settlement. my insurance only cover liability so now i'm without a car and no rental.
I got a lawyer to try to get her insurance already but I'm guessing she wont put out. I don't want to keep pulling this thing out because I'm a college student and I need a mode of transportation.

My next plan is to sue her using the small Claim's court which I can only get $5,000 max. My question is this: can i sue her numerous times? because my car is worth $7500. If I can't sue her for the same case again, then I plan to sue her to pay for my medical bill, towing/storage, and lost of wages while I was in rehap. So is it possible to sue someone more than once for the same incident? but for different reason. Is there any tips on trying to get someone to pay? she have a job and a 2003 Nissan Xterra so i know she's capable of paying.
any advice will be helpful. thanks in advance

Were the police called?
Was there a police report?

If so...the police would/should have her insurance information, and then you could contact her insurance co. yourself!

[jpritchett81]

Originally Posted by DeltaD

What is the name of your state? Texas

on 12/19/05 a lady hit my car from the rear and totaled it but she doesn't have insurance (I bet she's lying bc it's a brand new car bought from a dealer).
I've contacted her numerous of times but she refuses to talk about any kind of settlement. my insurance only cover liability so now i'm without a car and no rental.
I got a lawyer to try to get her insurance already but I'm guessing she wont put out. I don't want to keep pulling this thing out because I'm a college student and I need a mode of transportation.

My next plan is to sue her using the small Claim's court which I can only get $5,000 max. My question is this: can i sue her numerous times? because my car is worth $7500. If I can't sue her for the same case again, then I plan to sue her to pay for my medical bill, towing/storage, and lost of wages while I was in rehap. So is it possible to sue someone more than once for the same incident? but for different reason. Is there any tips on trying to get someone to pay? she have a job and a 2003 Nissan Xterra so i know she's capable of paying.
any advice will be helpful. thanks in advance

No....even though it's different reasons (car, medical) b/c this is all tired together under 1 case....the car accident. That is the root cause of no car and medical bills.

[DeltaD]

Yes, there were police there and a report was made but she claim that she didn't have insurance at the moment so they wrote her off.
I was instructed by my attorney to sue her several time for different reasons and so i'd think it was legit. if it doesn't work in one court, can I go to a different court?

[stephenk]

Are you sure your attorney is licensed to practice law? you aren't allowed to "split causes of action". have him explain that to you.

Consult with another attorney. Your case is worth more than small claims limits. Once the lawsuit is filed against her she will either fess up and turn it over to her insurance company or you will find out that she is uninsured.

[jpritchett81]

Originally Posted by DeltaD

Yes, there were police there and a report was made but she claim that she didn't have insurance at the moment so they wrote her off.
I was instructed by my attorney to sue her several time for different reasons and so i'd think it was legit. if it doesn't work in one court, can I go to a different court?

Your "attorney" is sadly mistaken**************that doesn't even make sense. If you take this woman to SCC you can only sue her ONE time for THIS case. You cannot go to different courts and sue her multiple times for THIS case. The courts can find out if a judgement has been ruled in your favor for the same case. So in essense you will be wasting time to even try to attempt this. You can sue her for the SCC limit but that's all.....if your case is worth more the SCC limit**************still that is all you can sue for.

Like stephenk said once a lawsuit is filed you'll either find out she has insurance and get them involved finally or she doesn't have insurance.

[DeltaD]

well, he's a "legal assistance" so not really a "lawyer." I was told to go to SCC b/c it would be a long drawn out process if I go to a higher court where lawyers would be involve. lawyers = lots of $$. I've also contacted another attorney and he wouldn't help me with it because there's a possibility that she doesn't have insurance so he's not going to give a sh!t b/c there's a possibility he can't collect.
either way, i'm pretty screw... Is there no LAW that FORCE her to give up her insurance if any? will she be fined if she DO have insurance but she refuse to give it up? I mean, what's the purpose of insurance anyway? you give them all this money and when you're in a jam, they don't give a #$*&@.
makes me want to not have insurance and just eat a ticket every single time a cop stop me, which is not very often.
sorry but this is really pissing me off of how ppl can get away with this kinda thing. and this isn't the first either, it's the 3rd time!!! all 3 times i wasn't in the car or my car wasn't moving and people would just hit me.
the 1st time was a car thief that ran into my car parked outside my apt. and b/c it's in an apt. police can't do anything. and since he's in jail, i can't do anything.... ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH. going to slash her tires soon if i can't get any $$ from her.
edit: anyway... calming down. what do you guys suggest I do? which court do I turn to now?

edit2: also, I went straight to a chiropractor w/o seeing a doctor first. i'm guessing she can use this to her favor. since i read somewhere on this forum that if you don't go to a doctor first, then doc. will suggest a chiro, you will not have a strong argument.
how much do you think my case is worth? here's an estimate so far...
car: KBB value it at $7500
doctor: I'm guessing around $1-$2k
time off work: 2 weeks. about $1000
car rentals: $300 so far (i really didn't rent a car from a car company, but from a private party)
towing/storage: $600 so far (starting from day 1)

so all in all, about $10k minimum. where should i go?

[jpritchett81]

It is irritating. The lady that hit me 11/29/05 I find out THIS week didn't have insurance. Why it took so long I don't know. So now I'm filing under my UM coverage.

Next time you get a car please, please, please get full coverage and uninsured motorist coverage......this will save you the headache big time. Also check into gap insurance too(if necessary). The upfront fees can be overwhelming at times but will save you when an accident occurs. Damn I hate accidents!!!!!

[sukharev]

You have to file a "real" lawsuit. Upside is you have a good case and can get a good lawyer, his fee would be included into recovered amount (if you settle or win). Good luck.

[DeltaD]

well. i'm afraid that she doesn't have THAT much money in the first place... we both live in the same apt. complex and it's pretty shabby. my family doesn't have that much of an income, so full coverage isn't possible. I'm not paying the insurance, my parents are. it's a big hassle to pay a lot for insurance when only one person's working in a family of three.
anyway, i've catched up on some laws saying that you can't "force" them to sell their private properties such as house/car/etc. but you CAN take away their wages.
she's a kindergarden teacher, so i can't imagine how much she makes...
well, what makes this a stronger case is that I hit the person who parked in FRONT of me (also waiting for the green light) and she had 3 kids under 5 yrs old in her car. they're not hurt, nor is the car that much damaged but she is a powerful witness, nevertheless. she wants money, as much as possible since she's unemployed. i know i have a strong case, there's no way she can say it was my fault. and i'm 99.9999% sure that I can win it, but the hard part is to collect the money! the SCC doesn't enforce anything, they just say that she have to pay. it's my job to go collect the $$.
a question: if i have to settle it in a big court, how would that go? is there also a minimum? i've read about this but i forgot, i think up to 100,000k?
how can i get the $$ once i win? that is the big question here.