QuestionI do not have collision coverage on my policy, but have liability, uninsure and comprehensive. My 89 Civic with 290,000 miles was hit while parked on the street by a hit and run driver, who was caught within the hour. I did not get the driver's insurance info because the police was questioning her and said she appeares intoxicated. The police said all the info will be in the police report which won't be ready in about 10 days.
I know my car will be totaled due to the mileage and age. It's been 7 days and I've been driving my employer's car to and from work, and pick up kids from daycare. I've been commuting with the Civic for the last 12 yrs/190,00k miles to the same employer without any repair. These few days have put lot of stress on me because of the uncertainty of what the outcome of the settlement. Thinking what if the kids were in the car. And also be extra careful when we cross the street because more drivers like her be in the neighbor.
I am sure they want to settle for the value of the car. But the value they put on the car's worth if only I want to sell it.
Can I file claim against the other's insurance co. for emotion stress and an amount enough to purchase a decent reliable vehicle?
AnswerThese questions are tough for me as I usually end up with negative feedback. But, like it says in my profile, I give honest answers.
Let's put this in perspective. The other driver, though acting recklessly and with the utmost stupidity, has totaled your car and has damaged nothing else. No one was hurt and from your description, the car had paid for itself many times over during its 190,000 mile life with you.
Thankfully, I've never seen a court of law award or insurance company pay money for "emotional distress" over property damage. If that ever happens, I'm going to move to a country where its citizens have a little more emotional stability. I don't know where it started, but we as a nation are turning into a real embarrassment with all of this "emotional distress" stuff. It's life. Stuff happens. Honda made over a million Civics and there are plenty of them on the road to replace yours. Do you want your kids to see you emotionally distressed over life or should they see you do whatever you need to do to rationally handle the situation.
It doesn't matter which insurance company settles the claim, they owe you for your actual damage which is the actual cash value of the Civic at the time of the loss. If there happen to be other Civics in the same condition with the same mileage on the market, then you'll have enough money to buy one like yours. If there are no others like that, then you may have to come out of pocket for the price difference, but will also have a vehicle that is worth more than the one that you had before. This is not the fault of the person that hit you. They owe you for the value of your car.
In the event of an accident, the vehicle owner has the responsibility to do whatever is reasonably required to go on with life but at the same time, not inflate the overall cost of the claim.
As far as other transportation, you should rent yourself a basic transportation vehicle and whichever company handles the loss will reimburse you for that rental up to the time of the total loss settlement offer. Some companies may grant you a few extra days beyond that point to go buy a car, but that varies from state to state, company to company. When I say whichever company, I am meaning first the other person's insurance and if they don't have insurance, then your uninsured motorist protection. Either way, you are covered for the value of your vehicle, reasonable storage, towing and rental.
Also, if your car is sitting in some impound lot accruing storage charges, you have a legal responsibility to "mitigate" or minimize those charges by having the vehicle moved to a storage free location. You don't want to let this drag out and then have one of the companies deduct excessive storage from your settlement.
No person can create emotional distress for another.
Only you have control over the amount of emotional distress that you experience. I say this because I deal with accident victims every day and see first hand how each individual chooses to handle the situation.
Do what you need to do, communicate what you are doing with the insurance companies and then give them time to do what they need to do. It will all work out.
I wish you luck and again incourage you to try and keep a healthy perspective.
