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MendezCx

New member
What is the name of your state? San Jose, California
Hi I'm looking for any legal advice in a car accident I was recently involved with. I'm not sure where to start as this was my first. My car was rear ended in a yield exiting the freeway to the street. My car was a Toyota Corolla SE 2020 used from dealership certified, I had it for less than a month before the accident now its a total loss. During the time of my accident I had my partner and my son and the lady of the other car was solo. The lady that hit me was about twice my age, I'm 22 and she was driving a Honda Accord 2003. I feel defeat because I'm the only one working and had to save up for a few months to put down a deposit. During the accident, I had my paperwork ready DL, registration, & insurance, but she failed to provide me her insurance multiple times had me driving after her until she stop and I called the cops, they sent Highway Patrol. She was able to go free and take her car. I'm really struggling now that I have no transportation to go and come from work, my claim is being finalized and I won't be getting my deposit or my 1 payment that I've made. Getting nothing from my insurance, gap insurance, or their insurance. My loan is the only thing being covered. I want to fight for the money I lost, to get another car, but I'm not sure where or how to being with or if there's even a way to do so. Any advice would be appreciated thank you!
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Let me start out by saying that I empathize with you. With that said, I now need to point out the unfortunate reality insofar as your car is concerned. You are entitled to receive from the lady the value of the car immediately before the accident. Since you just bought the car, then you almost definitely have no equity built up in it, particularly when you mention GAP insurance paying out on the claim. The other party has no obligation to provide you with any additional money. If you owed less on the car than it's worth, then you are entitled to receive the difference between what you owed and the value of the car, but if you owe the same as or more than the car was worth, then you aren't getting anything additional. Yes, it sucks.

Of course, if there are injuries, that is a separate matter.
 
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zddoodah

Active Member
My car was rear ended in a yield exiting the freeway to the street. My car was a Toyota Corolla SE 2020 used from dealership certified, I had it for less than a month before the accident now its a total loss.
For a recent model car to be a total loss as a result of a rear end collision, I have to assume the other car was traveling at a very high rate of speed.


she failed to provide me her insurance multiple times had me driving after her until she stop and I called the cops, they sent Highway Patrol. She was able to go free and take her car.
It sounds like you eventually did obtain insurance information (and her name and address) for the other driver. Right?


Getting nothing from my insurance, gap insurance, or their insurance. My loan is the only thing being covered.
Well...from the other driver's insurance, you're entitled to the fair market value of your car at the time of the accident. According to a quick search, and depending on a lot of factors, that's probably somewhere in the $20-22k range. If that's insufficient to pay off your loan and you actually have gap coverage, then the gap coverage kicks in to pay the balance of the loan. That's it.
 

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