Auto Insurance Claims: judgement over wreck, claims advice, claim help


Question
I had an incident where a man snatched my purse and took off in a at a local AutoZone in Indianapolis, IN. I took off after him and pulled in front of him at a light, well bad decision, cause we hit, minor hit but we both was arrested. Turns out the vehicle belong to the mans girlfriend, he had no license, but the vehicle was insured. I was on parole so I was violated and sent to DOC. While I was incarcerated, it seems the insurance company took me to court for the damages and recieved a default judgement. I was never even informed of a court date. How can that happen when she let her criminal unlicensed, boyfriend leave in her vehicle and terrorize women. Wouldn't it be fair for the insurance to go after him also, I was licensed and insured, why wouldnt they file with my insurance?Which hopefully they would of denied. Please help me understand how an insurance company could come after me. I lost everything when that man stole my purse. I made a bad choice when I pulled in front of him, but what about what he did, did the insurance company not even consider the facts.

Answer
 Hello Kimberly,

There are several issues here, the most notable being liability.  It would appear that the other insurance company somehow found you at fault for the accident.  This is an arbitrary process that is carried out whenever an accident claim is filed.  It would appear that because you pulled out in front of him, it was decided that you were at fault.  You do not mention if you were charged, and if that is the reason you were referred to DOC.

If you were established as the at fault driver, your company would not be required to pay for the other car's damages.  You would have no coverage at that point, and the other company would go after you for the payment they made to their "not-at-fault" driver. But certainly you had the right to present your side, your defense, to both to the insurance companies involved and to the court.

Furthermore, you should have received notification from the court and you should have been contacted by the original adjuster(s)handling the claim.  Under the circumstances, however, you certainly were at a disadvantage.

You need a lawyer to sort this out for you.  Good luck, Kimberly.

Jane Pytel
http://SolutionsForYourInsuranceClaim.com
http://FloridaAutoInsuranceCentral.com