Person at fault getting money

[Qtip]

What is the name of your state? Indiana
I heard this story recently and couldn't believe it. This woman got broadsided by this other woman but she ended up paying the woman that hit her because the woman who got hit was driving her uncle's car but she herself didn't own an insured car. She has a driver's license and the uncle's car was insured (it's totalled now). Does the fact that she didn't own an insured car of her own relieve the woman who ran into her from liability? Wasn't she wrong for hitting somebody else's car. As a result of a lawsuit she ended up paying $400/month to the woman who hit her car for several months until she decided she couldn't do it no more and filed for bankrupcy. If she would have had a good lawyer do you think the outcome could have been different?

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? Indiana
I heard this story recently and couldn't believe it. This woman got broadsided by this other woman but she ended up paying the woman that hit her because the woman who got hit was driving her uncle's car but she herself didn't own an insured car. She has a driver's license and the uncle's car was insured (it's totalled now). Does the fact that she didn't own an insured car of her own relieve the woman who ran into her from liability? Wasn't she wrong for hitting somebody else's car. As a result of a lawsuit she ended up paying $400/month to the woman who hit her car for several months until she decided she couldn't do it no more and filed for bankrupcy. If she would have had a good lawyer do you think the outcome could have been different?

Q: If she would have had a good lawyer do you think the outcome could have been different?

A: There is a 50-50 chance, more or less.

 

[moburkes]

What is the name of your state? Indiana
I heard this story recently and couldn't believe it. This woman got broadsided by this other woman but she ended up paying the woman that hit her because the woman who got hit was driving her uncle's car but she herself didn't own an insured car. She has a driver's license and the uncle's car was insured (it's totalled now). Does the fact that she didn't own an insured car of her own relieve the woman who ran into her from liability? Wasn't she wrong for hitting somebody else's car. As a result of a lawsuit she ended up paying $400/month to the woman who hit her car for several months until she decided she couldn't do it no more and filed for bankrupcy. If she would have had a good lawyer do you think the outcome could have been different?

What makes you believe that the at fault party got the money? How do you know she was at fault?

 

[Qtip]

Because the police report says so.

What makes you believe that the at fault party got the money? How do you know she was at fault?

 

[moburkes]

Because the police report says so.

Police reports are not the be-all determiner of fault to an insurance company. What happened in the accident?

 

[Qtip]

All I know is that the other woman broadsided her. I don't know if she ran a stop sign or a stop light but it was determined on the spot that she was in the wrong.

Police reports are not the be-all determiner of fault to an insurance company. What happened in the accident?

 

[moburkes]

All I know is that the other woman broadsided her. I don't know if she ran a stop sign or a stop light but it was determined on the spot that she was in the wrong.

Unfortunately, that's just not enough information to go on. Police will issue tickets, and indicate an at fault party on a police report, only to have the insurance company determine that the other party was at fault, for some reason. But, without knowing details, I don't have an answer as to why an at fault party gets paid. As far as liability, that is completely separate from who owns the vehicle or whether she has no vehicle of her own.