Auto Insurance Claims: Third-party claim denied - no police report, conciliation court, question thanks

Question
QUESTION: My husband was recently involved in an accident with a semi truck.  The other driver was at fault (initiated a  right turn from the left lane without signaling when my husband was already driving next to him in the right lane, apparently in the other driver's "blind spot".  My husband honked his horn several times but the guy continued turning and ended up shaving off the left front corner of my husband's vehicle.  My husband also had a passenger with him, a client, who concurs with what happened).  My  husband didn't think to call the police since there were no injuries, just took the other driver's insurance information and filed a third-party claim.  After investigating (sending their adjuster out to examine our car, going to the body shop to confirm their estimate) the adjuster recommended $2K in damages, but then several days later we received a call that the claim was denied.

What recourse do we now have?  We can't submit it to our insurance company, as it is an older car so we only purchased liability insurance on it.

ANSWER: Hi Lisa,

I'm sorry to say that about the only thing you can do is to file a law suit against the truck driver and his company. If a judge determines that the truck driver was at fault, the insurance comapany will have to pay.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks.  Are you suggesting a standard lawsuit or a conciliation court case?  Both the truck driver and his insurance company are based out-of-state, so I'm not certain whether that affects the type of claim we are able to file.

Answer
Hi Lisa,

I am not an attorney and am not familiar with the type of courts or laws that would prevail in your state. You would need to consult with an attorney in your state for specifics on how to proceed.

I hope This helps
Richard Hixenbaugh