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no insurance auto accident

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J

jsmitch

Guest
I got in an accident in Washington State two months ago and I had no insurance. After getting no letters from their insurance company I recieved a letter from a collection agency saying that I owed them $6000 fro the crash. Some of my finds who do a lot of work on cars said that there was no more then $1500 of damage to their car. I asked the collection agency for a copy of the invoice that the people recieved after getting there car fixed and the collection company said no. They told me that they can ask for any amount of money and they don't have to send me proof but if I don't pay it then I will loose my license and get bad credit. Is this true?? Do I simply have to pay them even though I think that is outragous?? thank you.
 


ALawyer

Senior Member
Separate the 5 issues.

FIRST the risk of loss of a driver's license. I do not know if you can lose your license under WA state law. But I do know that the claimant can NOT take it from you. If there is a law in WA State that says you can not drive without insurance the STATE can (and quite frankly SHOULD) pull your license. You were driving illegally and there should be some consequences for that. You may may not like them, but that's the law and you have to obey it.

SECOND the issue is what do you owe. Were YOU at fault? Merely driving without a license does not mean you were negligent (no matter how stupid it was) and thus potentially liable. Even if you were negligent, the other driver may have been equally or more negligent relieving you of liability.

THIRD what do you owe? While the claimants can send you any kind of bill they want, suppose they sent one for $6 million? (And if you seriously injured someone the damage claim could be even higher.) You do NOT have to pay their demand for $6,000 any more than you'd have to pay their demand for $6,000,000. This is a civil matter and while making a demand is easy, that demand does not set the measure of damages. To collect they have to sue you and prove you were at fault and also prove exactly what the damages were. If it cost them $1,500 to fix, that's the damages. (If your buddy said it should be $1,500 but they actually went to a dealer who actually charged $3,000, that's the damages, assuming it was done in a reasonable exercise of judgment.)

FOURTH, what they are doing is sometime known as EXTORTION. "Pay us an unreasonable amount or we will turn you in to the authorities." And extortion is a CRIME. You'd want to document it, and if you are smart enough to do it right THEY would have a problem greater than yours. (But who knows if a guy who drives without required insurance is that smart?)

FIFTH, if you'd spend a few hundred dollars to visit a lawyer and have the lawyer handle it for you, you'd probably wind up settling for the $1,500 and not have them turn you in. It is amazing what a lawyer's letter can do!And as a collection agency is making the demand (which I find HIGHLY UNUSUAL), they may be in violation of the Federal and state laws dealing with fair credit and collection processes. See a lawyer!

[Edited by ALawyer on 12-01-2000 at 06:59 PM]
 

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