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Auto Insurance Claims/Can I be sued?
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Question
Hi,
My husband was rear-ended in an accident. His insurance had lapsed. The
police report stated it was a no fault accident due to the fact the stories were
different. My husband had slowed down, with turn signal on to make a U turn
they were both in the left lane. The driver who hit him said he came from the
middle lane and cut in front of him. The driver who hit him had insurance.
My husband was ticketed for having no insurance which has been corrected.
The other driver's insurance company is trying to collect 4,000.00 in damages
from us. We assumed as the accident was "no fault " (which we of course
disagree with) that each party would take care of their own vehicle. We did
not respond to their demands and they have turned it over to a collection
agency. The collection agency is now telling us that if we do not pay them
they will go after our assets and have my husband's drivers license revoked.
They also gave us a "deal" to reduce the pay off to 2.000.00 that was valid
for 48 hours. (We did not take it) Can they do this? We live in Texas. The
collection agency also stated that they were not necessarily planning on
taking this to court.
We do not deny that we are at fault for the lapsed insurance.
We have not filed a claim against the other driver who truly did rear end us
for that reason, we figured his insurance would cover his and we would just
have to fix ours out of our own pocket. As the police report did not define a
party to blame, where do we go from here? We have no money (which is why
the insurance had lapsed.) Should we get a lawyer?
The collection agency for the other party (or there insurance company) cannot take any action against your assets, credit etc. unless they first secure a judgement from a court. Right now, they are only blowing smoke.
As you have no insurance company to represent you, you'll have to represent yourselves in small claims court. You can also file suit against the other party for your damages. I cannot tell you if you need an attorney or not as I do not know enough about you or your situation.
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Answers by Expert:
webfoot
Expertise
Auto damage, liability, insurance fraud. I am a full time auto insurance adjuster with experience in collision, theft, liability and fraud investigation. I am also an ASE Master Auto Tech and I-Car Collision Platinum certified. My experience includes 15 years in the auto repair industry, a B.S. in Criminal Justice, Law enforcement and auto insurance. ****** NO "PRIVATE" QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED. I HAVE FOUND THAT NEARLY ALL PRIVATE QUESTIONS COME FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE CONSIDERING OR ATTEMPTING TO COMMIT FELONY INSURANCE FRAUD AND I'M NOT HERE TO HELP YOU! ****** I AM HERE TO ANSWER AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR, CLAIMS PROCESS AND SOME SIMPLE LIABILITY QUESTIONS. I CANNOT ADDRESS COMPLEX LIABILITY SCENARIOS WITHOUT HAVING ALL OF THE INFO FROM BOTH SIDES IN FRONT OF ME. QUESTIONS ABOUT PREMIUMS OR HOW INSURANCE IS RATED SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO YOUR PERSONAL INSURANCE AGENT WHO KNOWS A WHOLE LOT MORE ABOUT YOUR HISTORY THAN I DO. I'VE NEVER SOLD INSURANCE AND DO NOT KNOW IF YOUR INDIVIDUAL INSURANCE RATES WILL GO UP IF YOU MAKE A CLAIM. THOUGH I'VE HANDLED SOME VERY MINOR SOFT TISSUE INJURY SETTLEMENTS, I PREFER NOT TO ANSWER INJURY RELATED QUESTIONS. I'M NO INJURY EXPERT AND I'LL LIKELY SAY SOMETHING TO HURT SOMEONE'S FEELINGS AS I BELIEVE THAT MANY SOFT TISSUE PAIN AND SUFFERING CLAIMS ARE OVER DRAMATIZED. UNLIKE MANY OTHERS, I AM ON THIS FORUM AS A VOLUNTEER WITH NO PRODUCTS OR SERVICES TO SELL AND PROMISE AN UPFRONT ANSWER BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE IN BOTH SIDES OF THE INDUSTRY. IF YOU PROVIDE ME WITH A HONEST VERSION OF EVENTS, I PROMISE A CANDID AND HONEST ANSWER IN RETURN. I CANNOT ADDRESS ALL CLAIM SCENERIOS DUE TO DIFFERING STATE LAWS AND REGULATIONS, BUT WILL DO MY BEST. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT AN HONEST ANSWER MAY BE ONE THAT YOU DON'T LIKE SO IF THAT IS GOING TO BE A PROBLEM, PLEASE DON'T ASK THE QUESTION. LASTLY, I DO NOT ACCEPT RATINGS AS I DON'T DO THIS FOR RATINGS AND WISH TO SPEAK FREELY.
Experience
20 years in automotive industry, Currently in insurance claims, worked actively as technician and shop owner until about 10 years ago. Current ASE Master Auto Tech and I-Car Platinum Collision Certifications, B.S. Criminal Justice and 10 year auto insurance/extended warranty background
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