IN warrant for debt?

[ttwell]

I had a dispute with a car rental company and didn't pay the balance of the bill. The bill went to collection and a court date was set. I responded to the court and told them I would not be in attendance. The companys attorney sent me a letter stating that if I didn't make payment arrangements that he would issue a bench warrant for my arrest. So I faxed him a letter before my court date and he issued a bench warrant anyway. He totally ignored my letter. How can I get that warrant removed? I have never had this type of thing happen to me. I would have settled for a judgement for the amount anyday. Should I obtain an attorney or can I settle this on my own. I don't have that much money to begin with, but I would like to clear this up as quickly as possible.

 

[JETX]

What was the warrant issued for???
(It wasn't for not paying the debt.)

 

[racer72]

I don't think the whole story was told here. Only a judge can issue a warrant, a company lawyer cannot. I would be willing to guess the rental car company had charges of theft of services placed against our poster and that is what the warrant is for. The only way to get rid of the warrant would be to pay everyone that you now owe money too. And I also would be willing to guess that that amount is a lot more now than is was a few months ago. You should have hired the attorney a long time ago, you are a little late now.

 

[ttwell]

sorry, i left out important details. the warrant is for failure to appear in court about the debt. (which is about $1100) and the debt if for the additional insurance i had to have on the rental car.

background: I was rear ended by a drunk driver in Aug 2000. i did not have insurance, but the drunk driver did. so his insurance company got me a rental car. they were very slow to settle my claim (my car was totalled). it took them 49 days to send my my settlement. i did not have a lawyer (big mistake) at the time of rental, i gave the rental car agency my credit card for the additional insurance that would be needed, but they did not take it. on the 47th day of my rental, the rental car agency asked my to come in and pay half of the additional insurance bill that i owed. I explained to them that i wouldn't have it until my settlment came, which would be just two days later. they told me to write a check for $600 anyway and bring it in. so i took my $600 check in the the rental agency and they ran it through check systems and they wouldn't accept it. then they wanted my credit card but i did't have enough available credit to cover the $600. I was pretty upset by then and so i turned to my daughter and told her i was suing the *hit out of the insurance company for taking so long. the cust. ser. rep at the insurance company thought i was cursing at her and she told me to get out. so i did. i called the corpate offices of the rental car company several times to try and resolve the matter, but they never returned my phone calls.

so this bill for $1100 was still outstanding. I received a letter from this attorney that i had a court date i had every intention on going to court and tell the judge why i didn't pay the bill, but i started a new job and couldn't get off work. so i sent the court a letter telling them that i would not be there. they gave the attoney a judgement against me. he sent me a letter and told be to contact him before a certain date to make payment arrangements or he would issue a warrant for my arrest. i sent him a fax making payment arrangements but heard no response. so he went to court and got a bench warrant on me anyway. i see now that you cannot fight a big company and i might as well had paid the $1100. so how do i remove a bench warrant? I also sent the attorney a letter telling him what happened but the attorney has not contacted me further, i don't think he ever planned on contacting me.

Please help! What should i do.

 

[JETX]

You're not going to like this.....

1) It is clear that you owe the money to the rental car company.
2) You should have gotten the rental car issue resolved with the insurance settlement and not just assumed that it would 'go away'.
3) You have obviously been lazy about handling this properly. You need to quit trying to call people and leaving it for them to handle it and become proactive. WRITE the attorney a letter and include a MONEY ORDER for payment (keep a copy for proof). Send it CERTIFIED RRR. At least that way you will have a confirmation that it was received.
4) Or, in the alternative, some courts allow you to make payment to them.

The ENTIRE reason that you are in this situation is that you have ignored their MANY letters (threat of legal action, notice of suit, etc) and now have to undo all the mess you have allowed to be created.

Start being responsible and take care of this.

 

[ellencee]

Halket
the initial writer said 'the insurance company got me a rental car'.
would the insurance the writer was forced to purchase no be included as an expense brought on by the at-fault driver? if so, is it too late for our writer to obtain payment from the insurance company.
Since the insurance wasn't used (rental car not damaged, no accidents, and I assume was never purchased because payment was never made) is this a legal debt? Was there ever any extra insurance on the car as no premium had been paid?
Just asking, not suggesting a remedy to the original writer; it is an answer that I'd like to know.
Thanks

 

[JETX]

Q1) "the initial writer said 'the insurance company got me a rental car'. would the insurance the writer was forced to purchase no be included as an expense brought on by the at-fault driver?"
A1) No. When an 'at-fault' drivers insurance provides a replacement vehicle, they do NOT provide insurance for it (it is assumed that the driver has their own insurance which would cover the rental car).

Q2) "if so, is it too late for our writer to obtain payment from the insurance company."
A2) See A1.

Q3) "Since the insurance wasn't used (rental car not damaged, no accidents, and I assume was never purchased because payment was never made) is this a legal debt?"
A3) Sorry, but I don't understand the issue of 'never purchased' and payment never made.


Personally, I think that the original writer is confused when he/she discusses 'insurance' payment. I don't think this was actually 'insurance' but was really the 'insurance REIMBURSEMENT' of the rental car expense. What probably happened here was that the 'damaged' party got a rental car while the claim was being processed. For some reason, the processing time took a long time and the rental car authorization (by the insurance company) expired. That is why they called the writer in... to pay for the no-longer authorized car rental. Instead of paying, the writer should have gone back to the insurance company and demanded either a closure of the case (and payment) or an extension of the car authorization. I think that THIS is the costs now in dispute. If correct, this has nothing to do with 'insurance coverage'. That is why I say that the writer should have resolved this correctly at the time. Instead, he/she has very probably already accepted a settlement with a required release of all further claims.

 

[ellencee]

Halket
in reply to:
Q3) "Since the insurance wasn't used (rental car not damaged, no accidents, and I assume was never purchased because payment was never made) is this a legal debt?"
A3) Sorry, but I don't understand the issue of 'never purchased' and payment never made.

I was thinking they told him, or her, that he, or she, had to buy the insurance and that he, or she did not buy it, but left without taking the policy, which the rental agency added on anyway.
On reading through this again and again, I'm thinking when the rental agency tried to bill the credit card, it was denied and so they called for payment. Check is not accepted, credit card is denied, so they sued for the money, and the warrant--I still don't understand the warrant, but that's OK.
Thanks!

 

[ttwell]

i never asssumed this would go away. i don't think you can call me lazy when i have written countless letters trying to come to some agreement about this debt. i see that calling doesn't do anything and that's why i write letters.

i was not confused about the 'insurance' payment. the at-fault driver's insurance company payed the regular fees for the rental car, but i had to pay for the additional 'insurance' coverage since i had no regular insurance of my own. The rental car authorization did not expire, but the rental company claims that their customer service reps did not fill out the paperwork correctly and that's why they wanted me to come in. I actually turned in the car 2 days early.

it took the insurance company 47 days to settle my claim. it took so long that my lazy self contacted the indiana department of insurance to conduct an investigation. i received a long letter of apology from the at-fault drivers insurance company saying 'opps, we are sorry it took so long' but that didn't help this $1100 bill that i still owe. i did sign the settlement relese paper before i received the settlement so the $1100 was not due then. the only reason i didn't pay the bill was because i got thrown out of the rental car company for pissing the customer service rep off. immediately after that, i contacted the rental company's corporate office, but to no avail. I got no response. what am i supposed to do if no one will talk to me? does this make me irresponsible?