QuestionI was about to turn into my driveway on the way home from shopping when a very large Suburban-type truck suddenly, with no warning, stopped. No blinker. I was planning to reverse and pass him to get to my house when he suddenly he put the truck in reverse and stepped on the gas.Crash--my car's hood was crumpled and the car's not drivable. I got out of the car and was obviously upset (8 months ago my BMW Z3 was rear-ended by a guy who didn't see me; no problem with who was at fault: his). But again? So soon? My new (old) BMW Z3 was in perfect condition and I was ticked off. I asked him why he didn't check his mirrors and if maybe he just could not see my car behind him. He then claimed that I had rear-ended HIM. I was appalled and angry that he would lie about something as serious as this. Guess I believed everyone was honest and good. He and I traded insults (I called him a liar, mostly) and because of his not telling the truth I called the police. He and I gave statements. He lied to the police. The policewoman walked down a long hill where a dump truck was parked, an associate of the perp's (both were finishing up paving a driveway) who could not possibly have seen what happened. He claimed that I ran into him. Why? Because he didn't hear any back-up beeping. Perp/Liar's truck had no back-up beeper! And this "witness" never once, even after two police cars arrived, failed to get out of his dump truck to come forward as a witness. And, of course, the policewomen believed that I was most likely lying due to this "witness" statement. No police report was issued. And The Liar was not cited for carrying an expired insurance card! The name/address, etc. of the "witness" was not given or written down by the cops. I am absolutely furious about this guy lying, actually committing insurance fraud. I can't sleep, eat or work. I find myself shaking and unable to concentrate, even on dumb sitcoms. Meanwhile The Liar gets off without a charge and I'm accused of something I didn't due, plus am liable for the car rental and a $1,000 deductible. I am a CPA and am required to take many hours of Ethics in continuing education. I do not lie, and even if I did do so occasionally, I'd never, never lie to a policeman or to someone I ran into just to avoid paying out to the insurance company. Several years ago I found $700 in a library book and I immediately turned it in. Many people thought I was dumb to do so, that I should have kept the serendipitous windfall. I thought keeping it would be the same as stealing it from someone's wallet. What shall I do now? Can I have the guy take a lie detector test? Should I retain an attorney? Take the guy to small claims court? BTW, this guy's paving business had 13 complaints (in the last 3 years) to the Better Business Bureau; most were resolved due to the BBB's intervention. He's a scumbag and it's my belief that committing fraud like this is one of the nastiest thing someone could do. Same with lying. He probably does't have much money (complained about my being "rich"). He trolls nice neighborhoods looking for business. Irrelevant, I know. Please help me. I'm about to have a nervous breakdown. It is honestly NOT about the money it will cost me because my husband and I do have plenty of it, but I will not allow this to go by passively without doing something about it. Thank you so much for any advice you can give to me. Meanwhile, I'll get out my voodoo doll and pins (that's a joke).
Sincerely, Catherine Boss
AnswerCatherine,
Let me begin by apologizing for the delay in responding to your question. I was preparing for and providing testimony in a two day trial which concluded yesterday PM.
I can easily understand your frustration and it’s apparent that you yourself are an upstanding person with a great deal of integrity. This makes your dismay and aggravation only greater when confronted and victimized by someone else who is not.
To answer your question, unfortunately, without independent witnesses, you have few options on how to resolve the issue. The physical damages match up to both scenarios and accounts of how the loss occurred. His having a witness who came forth on his behalf may have some weight in the disposition of liability simply as the deciding factor…unless you can discredit the witness as bias or prove he couldn’t have witnessed the loss. Perhaps using his own statement about the “beeping” to show he was not telling the truth etc.
I myself would not merely “take it lying down” and would insist that my insurer not make payment for his damages and in fact subrogate your damages against that at-fault party’s insurance to recover their pay-out under the premise that you are indeed telling the truth as to the facts of the loss.
I can assure you the insurer will not be as concerned or adamant about the truth as you are simply because they will not likely take the time or expense to fully investigate the matter due to the damages and lack of serious injury.
The likelihood, and the best you could hope for is the insurers will most probably negotiate a settlement, perhaps 50/50 comparative negligence as a compromised settlement” to close it and pay 50% of your damages and 50% of your deductible. They will likely be collecting from the at-fault party since he didn’t have insurance at the time.
Sometimes Catherine, for whatever reasons, we are dealt a bad-hand and fall victim to another’s dishonesty and find ourselves with little or no proper resolution or solution. When this occurs, it’s our time to shine and handle the situation with panache and turn it into something positive. One day a lesson will come of this and you'll be better for it.
I believe it best for you to recover what you can financially and forgive the other party for his indiscretion and understand and take solace that you are indeed the better person, take whatever positive lessons you can from the incident and put it behind you and continue to “Do Unto Others As You Would Have Done Unto You”. Also, the next time an incident occurs, immediately look around and secure any bystanders or drivers who may have witnessed the incident.
I hope this helps in some small way.
Best regards,
Barrett
