Should I sue uninsured driver?

wdwood71 · #1 01-13-2006, 02:42 PM

What is the name of your state?GA

I was hit by an uninsured motorist this week. Since my state requires insurance, she went to jail. I do carry uninsured driver insurance on my policy. My car will likely be totalled out. It was an older car with a lot of miles on it. It is unlikely that if it is totalled out that I will get enough to purchase a car of equal quality. Would there be any point in attempting to sue the uninsured driver? I did go to the hospital, but there were no serious injuries just strained and pulled muscles along my back and pelvis. Not sure if that makes a difference.

seniorjudge · #2 01-13-2006, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdwood71

What is the name of your state?GA

I was hit by an uninsured motorist this week. Since my state requires insurance, she went to jail. I do carry uninsured driver insurance on my policy. My car will likely be totalled out. It was an older car with a lot of miles on it. It is unlikely that if it is totalled out that I will get enough to purchase a car of equal quality. Would there be any point in attempting to sue the uninsured driver? I did go to the hospital, but there were no serious injuries just strained and pulled muscles along my back and pelvis. Not sure if that makes a difference.

If the person has any money, then sue them; if they are judgment proof (meaning no assets) then forget it.

wdwood71 · #3 01-13-2006, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seniorjudge

If the person has any money, then sue them; if they are judgment proof (meaning no assets) then forget it.

Is there any way to tell if they have money or not without me spending a lot of money to go to court just to find this out? I suspect that this person doesn't have much money based on the fact that she has no insurance in a state where it is required. She wasn't driving an expensive car, but it wasn't a total POS either. And she hit me as she was coming out of an apartment complex, which may mean she isn't well off.
Still, if she has something to sue for, how can I find out?

seniorjudge · #4 01-13-2006, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdwood71

Is there any way to tell if they have money or not without me spending a lot of money to go to court just to find this out? I suspect that this person doesn't have much money based on the fact that she has no insurance in a state where it is required. She wasn't driving an expensive car, but it wasn't a total POS either. And she hit me as she was coming out of an apartment complex, which may mean she isn't well off.
Still, if she has something to sue for, how can I find out?

Hire a private detective for an asset search.

sukharev · #5 01-13-2006, 05:38 PM

Well, you seem like a smart person, so you can figure out how to represent yourself, then file a law suit yourself and not spend much. Maybe you even apply to law school afterwards if you like the process

stephenk · #6 01-13-2006, 10:48 PM

"I do carry uninsured driver insurance on my policy"

If so, please explain why you feel your only choice is to sue the other driver.

wdwood71 · #7 01-16-2006, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephenk

"I do carry uninsured driver insurance on my policy"

If so, please explain why you feel your only choice is to sue the other driver.

Actually, I don't feel that this is my 'only' choice. My main problem is that the car was paid for, it ran well but it isn't worth much monetarily. I don't have much in terms of disposable income, and now I will be forced to incur a car payment that I really cannot afford.
My insurance will pay me for the estiamted monetary value of my car, but it won't be nearly enough to replace it. Since the accident was the other driver's fault, and since I cannot pursue her insurance company, I was asking if it would be worthwhile to pursue the other driver through the courts to help recover some of the cost of replacing my vehicle.

luvbskts · #8 01-16-2006, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdwood71

Actually, I don't feel that this is my 'only' choice. My main problem is that the car was paid for, it ran well but it isn't worth much monetarily. I don't have much in terms of disposable income, and now I will be forced to incur a car payment that I really cannot afford.
My insurance will pay me for the estiamted monetary value of my car, but it won't be nearly enough to replace it. Since the accident was the other driver's fault, and since I cannot pursue her insurance company, I was asking if it would be worthwhile to pursue the other driver through the courts to help recover some of the cost of replacing my vehicle.

Not to sound harsh, but it sounds like you just want this person to buy you a new car. Even though she was uninsured, it's not her fault that you drove an older car with higher miles.
IMO..it's not worth wasting your time going after. Chances are, if she had enough disposable income to go after then she would've had insurance.

good luck!

ps...we are still waiting to collect, not from suing but judge ordered during her sentencing, from the drunk/uninsured motorist that hit my husband. I can relate to your circumstances 100%.

justalayman · #9 01-16-2006, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdwood71

Actually, I don't feel that this is my 'only' choice. My main problem is that the car was paid for, it ran well but it isn't worth much monetarily. I don't have much in terms of disposable income, and now I will be forced to incur a car payment that I really cannot afford.
My insurance will pay me for the estiamted monetary value of my car, but it won't be nearly enough to replace it. Since the accident was the other driver's fault, and since I cannot pursue her insurance company, I was asking if it would be worthwhile to pursue the other driver through the courts to help recover some of the cost of replacing my vehicle.

The thing here is that the other driver would not have to give you anymore than your insurance company will. Fair market value is all that is required to be paid if the car is totaled. If you can get it from your ins. co. it would be easier. Then they will due what they can to recover their expenses from the other driver.

wdwood71 · #10 01-16-2006, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvbskts

Not to sound harsh, but it sounds like you just want this person to buy you a new car. Even though she was uninsured, it's not her fault that you drove an older car with higher miles.
IMO..it's not worth wasting your time going after. Chances are, if she had enough disposable income to go after then she would've had insurance.

good luck!

ps...we are still waiting to collect, not from suing but judge ordered during her sentencing, from the drunk/uninsured motorist that hit my husband. I can relate to your circumstances 100%.

It doesn't sound harsh and it is something that I have considered. However, it is also true that she has greatly compunded my financial problems. This is not the first accident I have had where another driver has totalled my car, and I have had to settle for a lesser vehicle to make up for it.
I don't expect a new car, but I would at least like to be able to get back to the point where I was before the accident. It is not my fault that she drove into me, and its not my fault she was un-insured.
However, I agree that it is probably not worth pursuing.

wdwood71 · #11 01-16-2006, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justalayman

The thing here is that the other driver would not have to give you anymore than your insurance company will. Fair market value is all that is required to be paid if the car is totaled. If you can get it from your ins. co. it would be easier. Then they will due what they can to recover their expenses from the other driver.

That is what I figured, but I thought it was worth looking into given the financial loss that goes beyond fair market value. Fair market value in this case is the difference between a reliable vehicle and a fairly small amount of money. Fair market value and replacement value are 2 different things.

luvbskts · #12 01-16-2006, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdwood71

It doesn't sound harsh and it is something that I have considered. However, it is also true that she has greatly compunded my financial problems. This is not the first accident I have had where another driver has totalled my car, and I have had to settle for a lesser vehicle to make up for it.
I don't expect a new car, but I would at least like to be able to get back to the point where I was before the accident. It is not my fault that she drove into me, and its not my fault she was un-insured.
However, I agree that it is probably not worth pursuing.

I can sympathize with you. When my husband was hit, he was driving his car that he loved dearly. It was paid for and we really couldn't afford car payments. We had had an accident with this car about 3 months earlier, of course with an uninsured motorist. Our insurance co. totalled it, but since it was still a nice running car, and not that badly damaged, we decided to buy it back for our son who was about to turn 16. Sadly for us, we couldn't carry full coverage insurance-since it had a salvage title. We didn't get anything when she hit it. She was ordered to pay us 3000.00 for the car and take monthly drug/alcohol tests. She did neither.
To say I'm bitter about uninsured motorist in an understatement. I'm so sick of reading the comments on here about "I don't have insurance" blah blah blah. The laws need to get tougher and the state needs to start following up better.