QuestionQUESTION: we were hauling furniture on our one of those i guess maintenance trailers ,duel wheels, teated floor, with big tailgate that comes down so you can drive things up on to load them. an old man crossed the center line and started at the front of our pick-up along the side , tore bumper half off, and half of the back fender also. he totaled the trailer. tore off both tires on the driver side tore fender of, buckled floor, furniture damaged, two matching dressers (new) stuff all down the road, in ditch. broke 120 lizard tank and accessories. broke tales inc. anyway his car on his driver side was all smashed in. but luckily no one was hurt.our insurance co. is fixing the truck but not the trailer and contents. in Michigan we have no-fault insurance. but i found some laws of no-fault that says trailer attached to vehicle is part of the vehicle. our insurance cop. says yes your trailer is insured , but for liabilty only. so no payment for trailer and contents. do we have to take the old man to court?
ANSWER: Yes, unless the old man has property damage liability insurance and he is willing to turn in the claim to his own insurer and they agree he was at fault.
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QUESTION: the old mans insurance says they are not paying for trailer and furniture. they said "you should have got a rider for more insurance. if we send a copy of police report (which states he is at fault) a declaration from our insurance co. , and a couple of pictures to prove total loss then they will send us $500.00 and thats it. thats all we can get in michigan with no fault. i also called the court house and they said we cannot sue, we can get $500.00 and thats it. can't sue for more. why can't we sue him? he clearly was at fault, he crossed center line. so we're out. his insurance co. also said "sorry, accidents happen" would it be out of line to call the old man to prove our case? can't afford a lawyer. they say call your homeowners for the furniture (not trailer, worth $2700.00) and see what they can do. thanks
phyllis
AnswerI don't think there is any question that the old man was at fault. Its just that in your state you apparently can't sue for property damage over $500.00. I find that incredible, but you said thats what the small claims clerk told you. I would call one of your local "accident attorneys" in the yellow pages and ask one of them. I don't think they would charge for such a simple question. For them your situation is common knowledge. You could also call the small claims advisor, a free attorney employed by the small claims court (in most states).
Calling your homeowners insurance on the furniture is a good idea.
