QuestionQUESTION: The other car struck my vehicle. The driver was cited for failure to yield. Because the other car insurance keeps low ball offer and gave me a lot of stress. I decide to sue the wrongdoing driver.
1) Will the claims rep. likely change her mind after seeing a summons or the lawsuit has no effect on her position and why? If the case proceeds to litigation, will it cause the insurance more costs?
2) The small claims court has award limitation. An entire claim in a car accident may be over or above the award limitation. Can the property and injury claims be filed separately or one accident, one claim? Thank you for your answer.
ANSWER: Hi Rou,
It may or may not make a difference to the claims adjuster that you filed a law suit. Sometimes they will try to make a better offer to get you to drop the law suit.
If when you filed the law suit you specified that it was for the property damage only then it will only be for the property damage. Remember that it is your responsibility to prove your case. So you will need to bring to court any documentation you have to support your case. If you are suing about the value of your car, you may need to bring an expert witness to court to testify about the value of your car.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for your answer. I think I may not have to bring an expert witness to court but research just like the other car insurance did. They could research their database Autosource. I could search from different source or dealers directly. What I need to prove is my search is more reliable than the insurance, right? The other car insurance picked up 20 cars by selection from the Autosource.com. Then the insurance averages the list price as the car market value. Do you know any good source for the car market value? In addition, you did not tell whether the lawsuit would cause the insurance more costs. You said, sometimes the insurance try to make a better offer to get the claimant to drop the lawsuit. Could you tell why?
ANSWER: Hi Rou,
You can search for currently for sale cars like yours at www.autotrader.com . You need to search for cars that are close to yours in mileage and options.
When you ask if the suit will cause the insurance more costs, if you mean to go to court, yes. The insurance company will have to hire a lawyer to go to court to defend their client.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for your answer. You said, “You can search for currently for sale cars like yours at www.autotrader.com . You need to search for cars that are close to yours in mileage and options.” The other car insurance picked up 20 cars by selection from the Autosource.com and then average the price as the car market value. I picked up 3 same year and model cars with the closer mileages (higher or lower) from the www.autotrader.com. The other car insurance said it is insufficient and wanted me to provide more. Does it make sense?
1) How many cars should I provide?
2) In addition, after the car price is determined, what the other costs should be added, tax, tag, document fee (if purchased from a dealer) or what else?
AnswerHi Rou,
The insurance company can reject anything you present to them. They are hoping to wear you out so you accept their offer. Just keep looking for more information and keep presenting it to them. Another option would be to hire a professional independent auto appraiser to determine the value of your car.
Once you agree on a value, the insurance company should also add tax, tag and transfer fees.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
