lyndsay0504
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Louisiana
On June 26th of this year, my car (2001 Ford Escort) was rear ended by a Jeep Cherokee. The man that hit me did not have proof of insurance at the time of the accident. 3 months and a million phone calls and road blocks later, we FINALLY get in touch with the guy. He says he had insurance, but it had lapsed at the time that he hit me, so he will have to pay for the damages to my car out of pocket. So I take my car to get an estimate which comes to over $5,000. Part of the reason it is so high is because since we could not reach this guy for 3 months, water (from all the rain we have been having) had gotten into the trunk and everything on the inside of the trunk needs to be replaced as well. I called the guy to tell him this and he says that he doesn't believe he did that much damage to the car and that I need to get at least two more estimates before he will pay anything, which I don't mind doing. However, if this were going through his insurance, my car would be considered totalled since the price of repairs is more than the value of my car (NADA says my car is worth about $2500). I certainly can't afford to buy another car for that amount of money, and I can't afford to repair it for that much either. I am concerned that he will contest the estimate for repairs and only want to pay me the value of the car. My question is, can he legally do that, even though I won't be able to repair it for that much?
Also, I only carry minimum coverage with no uninsured motorist on my insurance so going through my company is not an option. Thanks!
On June 26th of this year, my car (2001 Ford Escort) was rear ended by a Jeep Cherokee. The man that hit me did not have proof of insurance at the time of the accident. 3 months and a million phone calls and road blocks later, we FINALLY get in touch with the guy. He says he had insurance, but it had lapsed at the time that he hit me, so he will have to pay for the damages to my car out of pocket. So I take my car to get an estimate which comes to over $5,000. Part of the reason it is so high is because since we could not reach this guy for 3 months, water (from all the rain we have been having) had gotten into the trunk and everything on the inside of the trunk needs to be replaced as well. I called the guy to tell him this and he says that he doesn't believe he did that much damage to the car and that I need to get at least two more estimates before he will pay anything, which I don't mind doing. However, if this were going through his insurance, my car would be considered totalled since the price of repairs is more than the value of my car (NADA says my car is worth about $2500). I certainly can't afford to buy another car for that amount of money, and I can't afford to repair it for that much either. I am concerned that he will contest the estimate for repairs and only want to pay me the value of the car. My question is, can he legally do that, even though I won't be able to repair it for that much?
Also, I only carry minimum coverage with no uninsured motorist on my insurance so going through my company is not an option. Thanks!