Auto Insurance Claims: Can an insurance company disclaim liability when their insureds car hit me involuntarily?, vw jetta, enterprise rental car

Question
Hello Mr. Hixenbaugh,

I write on behalf of my sister.  Both she and I thank you for reading these questions.

Last month, my sister's parked car was damaged by car 1, a rental car.  The estimated damage to her car (1999 VW Jetta to that point in very good condition) was over $3000.

"Luckily," driver of car 1 filed a police report, as my sister was not present when the accident occurred.  Driver of car 1 reports to the police that he was driving down the street when he was rear-ended by car 2 (this car didn't stop, and so the driver is unknown) causing him to hit my sister's car. My sister has a police report reflecting that the driver of car 1 admitted fault (if only "partial" because his action was involuntary)for hitting my sister's car.  Car 1 was an Enterprise rental car, and so my sister was put in touch with a representative from their independent liability claims company.  My sister forwarded to this representative a copy of the police report detailing the accident as I described it above. After speaking with the passengers in car 1, who confirm that car 1 was propelled into my sister's car after having been hit by car 2, Enterprise's insurance co. is denying my sister's claim and completely disclaiming liability for the damage to her car.  My questions are as follows:

1) From a liability standpoint, does it even matter that car 1, the Enterprise car, did not hit my sister's car on its own accord?

2) Can Enterprise wholly deny liability for the damage to my sister's car in light of their insured's admission that his car hit my sister's car?

3) What should we do to appeal the decision? Is there usually an internal appeals process w/in these companies? Is is advisable to avail yourself of that process?

4) Can my sister sue Enterprise's insurance co/Enterprise?  Can she sue the driver of the rental car (car 1) in his individual capacity?

5) In what venue could/should/would her claim be heard? Would she have to take her claim to small claims court? Or could she go to a general civil court?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Sincerely,

AO

Answer
Hi Addie,

Unfortunately, you will not like my answer.

In order for an insurance comapny to accept liability on behalf of their driver, their driver must be legally responsible for the damage they inflicted and therefore are responsible to pay for any damage that results. In this case the driver of rental car did not do anything wrong. He was hit by another vehicle and pushed into your sister car. As a result, he can not be held legally liable for the resuting damage since it was not his negligent actions that led to the damage to your sisters vehicle, but rather, it was the negligent action of the "phantom vehicle" that started the whole chain of events. The "phantom vehicle" driver is the one responsible for the damage. Unfortunately, in this case since the pahntom vehicle driver is unknown, there is noone for your sister to sue or collect from. This is just an unfortunate situation and there is no appeals process that will change it.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh