State: Michigan
Ok, I was in a car accident about 4 years ago. I had borrowed a friend’s car so that a couple friends and I could go to the movies for my birthday. I was 16 at the time of the accident. Before I borrowed the car, I asked the owner if there was insurance on the car and if everything else was legal. He told me yes. After the accident, I was informed that there was in fact, no type of insurance on the car.
The owner of the car had cancelled the original insurance he had on the car to try to find cheaper insurance. He was referred through a friend to a man that supposedly could get him insurance on his car for only $100. It sounded pretty shady to me, but he went through with it and proceeded to drive his car everywhere believing there was insurance on it. After the accident, we were informed that the man who offered the insurance was running some type of scam and had taken a lot of people’s money. I am unsure if he was ever caught and prosecuted for his crimes.
The accident happened like this: I was pulling out of a parking lot going straight across a road into another parking lot directly across the road from where I was. There was a red light at the end of the road which was not very far away. This made it so that traffic was backed up in front of my car in the road. However, a man in a truck stopped early and left me enough room to pull out and go across in front of his truck. He motioned with his hand for me to go. After that I looked both ways, saw nothing coming, pulled out slowly, and proceeded to drive across to the other parking lot. As I pulled in front of the man’s truck and into the lane on the other side of the road, my car was struck on the passenger side. Like I mentioned earlier, I had looked both ways before pulling out to make sure nothing was coming. The woman that hit me was speeding. We were in the middle of a city. The speed limit was most likely 35 mph (if not slower). She was going much faster than that. If she had been going the speed limit, I would have been able to see her coming when I looked before pulling out. After the police arrived, they determined that I was technically at fault, but no ticket was issued.
Now I am getting letters about how I owe over $12,000 for the woman’s car since there was no insurance on the car I was driving to cover it. The most recent letter I received is a request and writ for garnishment of my income tax refund/credit. The writ had my name on it, but an incorrect social security number. I have no idea what to do. There is no way I can come up with that much money. I am currently in college and I just moved to a new location so I have not been able to find employment yet. Even when I do, there is no way I am going to make that much money. I feel that the man who was running the insurance scam should be held responsible. If there had been insurance on the car, I would not have to worry about paying over $12,000 because it would have been covered by the insurance. I would not have borrowed the car if I had known it had no insurance on it. I just need to know what my options are and what I should do. My mother insists that I just “don’t worry about it.” She thinks that the statute of limitations will run out and I won’t have to worry about it anymore. I am not really in contact with the owner of the car anymore and I am unsure if he has received any type of papers regarding the issue. I want to take care of this as soon as possible before it causes further problems for me since the amount owed is getting larger due to legal fees and interest. Any advice is greatly appreciated.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Ok, I was in a car accident about 4 years ago. I had borrowed a friend’s car so that a couple friends and I could go to the movies for my birthday. I was 16 at the time of the accident. Before I borrowed the car, I asked the owner if there was insurance on the car and if everything else was legal. He told me yes. After the accident, I was informed that there was in fact, no type of insurance on the car.
The owner of the car had cancelled the original insurance he had on the car to try to find cheaper insurance. He was referred through a friend to a man that supposedly could get him insurance on his car for only $100. It sounded pretty shady to me, but he went through with it and proceeded to drive his car everywhere believing there was insurance on it. After the accident, we were informed that the man who offered the insurance was running some type of scam and had taken a lot of people’s money. I am unsure if he was ever caught and prosecuted for his crimes.
The accident happened like this: I was pulling out of a parking lot going straight across a road into another parking lot directly across the road from where I was. There was a red light at the end of the road which was not very far away. This made it so that traffic was backed up in front of my car in the road. However, a man in a truck stopped early and left me enough room to pull out and go across in front of his truck. He motioned with his hand for me to go. After that I looked both ways, saw nothing coming, pulled out slowly, and proceeded to drive across to the other parking lot. As I pulled in front of the man’s truck and into the lane on the other side of the road, my car was struck on the passenger side. Like I mentioned earlier, I had looked both ways before pulling out to make sure nothing was coming. The woman that hit me was speeding. We were in the middle of a city. The speed limit was most likely 35 mph (if not slower). She was going much faster than that. If she had been going the speed limit, I would have been able to see her coming when I looked before pulling out. After the police arrived, they determined that I was technically at fault, but no ticket was issued.
Now I am getting letters about how I owe over $12,000 for the woman’s car since there was no insurance on the car I was driving to cover it. The most recent letter I received is a request and writ for garnishment of my income tax refund/credit. The writ had my name on it, but an incorrect social security number. I have no idea what to do. There is no way I can come up with that much money. I am currently in college and I just moved to a new location so I have not been able to find employment yet. Even when I do, there is no way I am going to make that much money. I feel that the man who was running the insurance scam should be held responsible. If there had been insurance on the car, I would not have to worry about paying over $12,000 because it would have been covered by the insurance. I would not have borrowed the car if I had known it had no insurance on it. I just need to know what my options are and what I should do. My mother insists that I just “don’t worry about it.” She thinks that the statute of limitations will run out and I won’t have to worry about it anymore. I am not really in contact with the owner of the car anymore and I am unsure if he has received any type of papers regarding the issue. I want to take care of this as soon as possible before it causes further problems for me since the amount owed is getting larger due to legal fees and interest. Any advice is greatly appreciated.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
