Expert: Bennie719 - 7/21/2009

Question
My small Mazda 3 was parked in front of my house. A mini van hit and side swiped it the other day. I have a job and I am a full time student and need a car. We have just found out there is $8000 worth of damage on the car and the man who hit me and my father's truck has no insurance. What can I do in a civil court?

Answer
Hi Juliet,
You need to IMMEDIATELY report this accident to your insurance
company.
You did not state the year model of your and your dad's vehicles
but I assume that you carry collision on the Mazda and possibly
your dad has collision on his truck.
In cases such as this, when the at fault party is uninsured and
you have collision coverage, your own company will repair your
car (less the deductible) and if you carry rental reimbursement,
also provide up to the amount specified per day for you to have a
rental car until the car is repaired or for the maximum number of
days specified by the policy.
Even if your dad doesn't carry collision, he probably has uninsured
motorists property damage of $3,000.  This means that the insurance
company would pay from the first dollar up to a maximum of $3,000
to repair his truck.  There is usually no rental reimbursement if
there is no collision coverage.
Your insurance company would then attempt to collect from the at fault party, usually entering into a small monthly payment agreement.
Most companies will reimburse all or part of your deductible if
they are able to recover full payment from the uninsured driver.
A few companies will reimburse your deductible from the first amount
they may be able to collect.

Since the party at fault was uninsured, the odds are that he has
no assets.  By taking him through the court system, you would
undoubtedly win a judgement but would be unable to collect.

Please write again after reporting this to your ins co and let me
know the year, make and model and amount of damage to each vehicle
if there is no coverage from your own company.  Also tell me
the name of your insurance company and your state of residence.

I hope that you find this information helpful.  Your feedback by rating my response will be appreciated.

Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area

I hope that