Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 12/29/2009

Question
I am in Texas and the roads were icy and wet on December 25th becuase of the cold weather. I have a honda civic and i was hit on the back by a silverado at around 10 am. Since the roads were icy, i lost control and before I came to a final stop i was hit 2-3 more times by other vehcicles too. There were no shoulders and just 2 lanes highway so my car was turned to the opp. direction when it finally stopped. I do not have a comprehensive coverage with my insurance though I called them and told them what happened. And I got a call from the silverado's insurance company and they asked me what happened. They asked me if they could record my statement and I was confused about it so i agreed on that. Later on they told me the statement of the driver who hit me is different from what i told them. The driver of that vehicle told them that he hit me after i lost control over my vehicle. There were 2 other vehicles involved in the same accident of which one had contacted my insurance company but i see that claim has already been closed by my insurance company. And I am not sure if they have been able to contact the fourth driver. Now since, the driver who hit me gave a different statement, how will it affect my claim? The police showed up but i dont think they made a report because they did not take any statements from me. Moreover the officer handed me out that form to file accident by myself. My car has external damages but its still drivable.

How will this claim be handled?

I look forward for your reply.

Thanks

Answer
Hi Nick,

Since you have no insurance to fix your car, you will just have to fight with the other insurance company opay for your repairs. If they refuse to pay or deny your claim, then the only thing you can do is to file a law suit against the dver of the truck. If you can prove to a judge that you were not at fault, then you will receive a judgement and the truck insurance comapny will have to pay to repair your car.

You should try to contact the drivers of the other cars to see if they would say that the truck hit you first then you went out of control.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh