Small Claims Court

What is the name of your state? Iowa

Recently, I was traveling eastbound on the Interstate. A semi truck merged onto the the same interstate, also eastbound. The semi truck was hauling a rear dump trailer and the driver did not secure the rear gate (it was flapping open and shut freely) and consequently dumped a good deal of aggregate debris onto the highway. One of the rocks that fell out of the trailer bounced up and broke my windshield. I took down the information on the truck and called my insurance comapny. My insurance company would only pay for a windshield repair, not a replacement. So - the windshield repair company came out and was unable to repair and said the windshield will need to be replaced (at my expense). I went ahead and contacted the trucking company to see if they would take care of this for me, they refused (and were very combative about the situation).

If I take this case to small claims court it will essentially be a case of my word against his (I don't have a witness). Anyone have any thoughts on me being succesful in recovering the monetary damages in this situation?

Not likely, without a witness. Word vs word usually ends up being a draw.

If your windshield can't be repaired and has to be replaced, then your insurance WILL cover it, but only after your deductible, which if it's $500, then the replacement cost is probably less than your deductible.