by Guest » Tue Apr 01, 2008 06:21 pm
I was in an auto accident in Dec., 07. I didn't get a ticket and the police report said that I had not caused it but stated the other driver was "innattentive". I rearended them. The car was not the drivers and both driver and passenger went to the hosptital, however I don't know the extent of any injuries. I called to report the accident to my insurance co and learned that my insurance had lapsed due to nonpayment. They reinstated it the following day. One of the people in the accident now has an attorney stating that if I don't show proof of insurance, which I cannot, they will go to the state (I live in MO) and ask that my license be suspended until I pay her damages. Can this be settled w/o the state getting involved? I can't afford an attorney and AM keeping my insurance paid. Any advice would be appreciated.
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 07:01 pm Post Subject:
It appears that the attorney is telling you that you can pay and they won't report your lack of insurance to the state. You want to know how to avoid them reporting the information? I'm I missing something?
Lori can speak better about what subro rights a person has on injuries in MO (PIP, MP, are they recoverable if they exist, etc)
I'm guessing that the other party did not move forward when a red light changed green, or something like that? In what you describe and that it appears you are considering paying for the other parties loss, it seems that you think you are at fault, no?
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 07:09 pm Post Subject:
The other party pulled in front of me, on a dark 2 lane road, from the side of the road. She then, quickly decided to turn into a driveway because she had dropped her cell phone. Told police that as well. I hit her left bumper. More damage to my car than the one she drove. I do not think I am at fault but, with no insurance, do I have to pay damages so I don't lose my license since the attorney said they would go to the state?
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 08:06 pm Post Subject:
If nothing else you're at a GREAT disadvantage as you will now need to provide yourself a defense.
I checked and MO is a pure comparative state, meaning that the amount you can claim against the other party is reduced by the amount that you contributed to the accident. Also, there is no PIP (I'm not 100% if there is Medical Payment (Med Pay) or not.
Unfortunately, I'd say you are a majority at fault in this accident. The other party had enough time to completely pull out in front of you and establish themselves in your lane. At that point you have a duty to maintain a proper distance, which you did not do as they slowed down to make the turn and you rear ended them. I understand your point of view but it holds little weight in this case. Perhaps you could argue some negligence against the other party for... making a quick turn (???) but I doubt that is a great option for you, given your lack of ability to provide yourself a good defense. At least it's not a great _legal_ defense but you can certainly add it in with your inability to pay the full amount of the other parties loss and see if the attorney is willing to reduce his/her demand.
If the attorney representing the other party directly or their insurance companies loss? According to your post, the attorney is representing one of the injured person's directly. If so, have you explained that you did not have insurance at the time of the loss? If the attorney were to have that confirmed I'm guessing what would happen is the following; the attorney would no longer represent his client (as there is no money to be had, at least not right away) and the attorney _would_ report this to the state so that the state could suspend your license until you paid the person's loss (I'd think the attorney would do this to represent his client to the best of his/her ability). There is also the possibility that the attorney would keep the case open in some backroom filing cabinet and perhaps allow you to to make payments or something like that. It would have to be a slow year for the attorney to keep something like this open as he/she could just move on to easier cases.
Perhaps you could make some deal with the attorney to pay something back... but not all of the loss. At least this way the attoreny can collect something for his/her client. My guess is that little payments over the period of a long time would not be acceptable, though.
If the attorney is representing a passenger in the other vehicle and thought there was some negligence against the driver, then he/she would be filing a claim against the drivers policy. Perhaps the attorney does not know exactly what happen in the accident. I'd think a negligence claim against the drivers policy might be stand a better chance of collecting money then trying to get money from your pocket. You could always be "willing" to give a good witness statement for the attorney and perhaps he/she would be less willing to try to get money from you. It's just a thought.
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 01:50 pm Post Subject:
Lori can speak better about what subro rights a person has on injuries in MO (PIP, MP, are they recoverable if they exist, etc)
We do have MP, (optional) and is not subrogatible, however UM is manditory and subrogatible....Why wouldn't the other (injured party) have filed a claim with their carrier, who then paid their injuries under their UM then their company NOT their attorney should be coming to you for subro/reimbursment....Have you had any contact with their carrier at all? You need to be very careful when dealing with this atty...He cannot release you from any subro right to the carrier....I'm just scratching my head the carrier should be paying UM claims all the way around here, for each person injured in this vehicle...I don't want to see you sign an agreement with the atty (DON'T) then the carrier come after you for the UM claim...
I also do not understand, you said you did not get a ticket, nor were you marked for any 'contributing circumstances' on the report but the other party was? See I think you might have a bit of an 'out' on some of this...
Please talk to the carrier for the other vehicle and see what is going on there, were I you I'd file a claim against that policy....putting forth that you are not at fault...see where it goes...also find out if they have settled the collision damage and all these injury claims, and are they coming to you for subro?
This is very confusing...please provide more info, re: the other carrier...
RE: the state report..yes, they, you me, anyone can file a state report, after receiving it and all proof they will investigate it, you can request an administrative hearing as well (you don't have to go just send in your proof) they will having the hearing or complete the investigation and if you are found to be liable you will then have to reimburse the carrier .... If I'm remembering this right (been many years since I handled subro) they will pull your license, but I 'think' you can get it back by providing either proof of payment for the loss, or a promisory note showing you have agreed to pay...now if you stop they can file it on you again...
Please let us know about the contact you have had with the insurance carrier for the vehicle you hit..
Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 04:54 am Post Subject: Accident with no insurance
My insurance had lapsed due to nonpayment. While I was parked at a parking meter my automatic car slipped out of gear and rolled approximately four to five feet back into another car. No one was in either car and the car I rolled into was a large SUV and when I started my car and moved it there was no damage to the other car at all.
Now the owner is telling me that he talked to his auto body shop and I need to pay him $200 or he is going to file a police report.
I asked to see an estimate and he refused. Should I pay? This just feels like blackmail and there was no way his SUV sustained $200 in damages. I did not see a single mark on his truck.
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 05:11 pm Post Subject:
This is a reminder to make sure you are on time with your insurance payments. It sounds to me that because at the time of the accident you were technically not insured (although good call on reinstating the following day) that any damage to either vehicle would have to come out of pocket from you if you are at fault. The threat to take your license away if you don't pay up kind of seems like a scare tactic to get you to take action. It reminds me of a collection letter, they say "Remit payment immediately for this amount or could owe several times more with court costs." I don't think the plan is ever to take you to court, but rather to run to the post office because you don't want to have to go to court if they are not bluffing. I personally would consult with an attorney of my own to see if what the other attorney is trying to do is even possible, legal, etc.
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 05:16 pm Post Subject:
To Jared:
I wouldn't give anyone a dime without seeing some type of proof. Like you said, an estimate or something. If you give him the money with no paper trail you might as well have given it to him for a birthday gift, because that's exactly what it would be. A gift to them. If there is no visible damage then they certainly won't be paying $200 to fix it. They would probably take $5 of your $200 and buy some wax to shine the bumper. If I were you and truly feel that there is no damage to the other vehicle, I say let him file the report. If there's no damage, the officer probably wouldn't even honor it seeing as there is no evidence. But always stay on top of your auto insurance and make sure it's active. For one, in most places it's the law, and two, you never know when an accident may occur. The way I remember to pay is just having it drawn automatically each month.
Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 04:42 pm Post Subject:
I WAS IN TURNING LANE TO MAKE LEFT AND WAS HIT FROM BEHIND, NO CITATIONS WERE ISSUED.
THE DRIVER OF THE OTHER CAR CLAIMS I WAS MAKING ILLEGAL TURN. NO DAMAGE TO MY VEHICLE, BUT HIS WAS WRECKED. MY INSURANCE HAD LAPSED. THE POLICE REPORT CLAIMS I WAS CITED FOR ILLEGAL TURN BUT AGAIN NO CITATIONS WERE ISSUED. WHAT IS THAT CAN HAPPEN IF THEY SAY I WAS NOT INSURED?
Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 05:21 pm Post Subject:
First, you should start a new thread with this new question.
Where you making an illegal left turn? You state you were in the left lane to make a left turn... why would anyone say this is illegal? Its odd that it appears the police report would agree with this in that it states you were issued a citation but you say you were not given one. I'd certainly clear this up with the police dept. It's also odd that you were not cited for no insurance. Perhaps you were.
The other person or their carrier can attempt to collect for the their loss from you. Since you did not have insurance at the time, you will need to provide yourself a defense.
With the police stating you were making an illegal turn, the other carrier will probably place at least some liability against you. Depending on state laws this will either bare you from recovering or reduce the amount you can collect by the amount you were at fault in the accident.
Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 04:19 pm Post Subject: student
I was hit at a four way intersection. A witness came from nowhere and claimed the accident was my fault because I ran a red light. I refused the alligations and decided to go to court. The only ticket issued at the time, for running the red light, was thrown out of court or dismissed. No one from the other party showed up at court, not even the witness or police officer that took the complaint. This occurred three times, no one showed up as the case was continued three time. The judge dismissed the claim and threw the ticket out. Now almost two years later I have a collection agency calling me threatning to have my license suspended if I don't agree to pay X amount of dollars. The case was thrown out. The entire case henged on who ran the red light. I was cleared in court. Can they still have my license suspended. Can they continue to persue this in civil court and should I get an attorney?
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