Auto Insurance Claims: My parked car was hit by a drunk driver, state insurance commissioners, storage charges

Question
In the middle of the night an elderly lady crashed into my parked car. The CHP had my car towed after the accident and stored at a lot since they cant leave a totaled car in the middle of the street.  My car has been in the lot for over a week and her insurance company says that I need to pay the $800 to get it out since they don't cover that. Is this right? My car wouldn't be in the lot in the first place if the drunk driver didn't hit my car. In the meantime Im going to seek a lawyer to sue her insurance company.  Do you think this is the right way to go to get more restitution for this whole situation?

Answer
Hi Yolanda,

No it's not right. They absolutely have to pay any towing and storage charges. You need to call these people and tell them you are not going to be walked on. If they continue to give you any problems, you should file a complaint with the state insurance commissioners office.

They are responsible for all expenses. If your car is totaled you should check the value of your car before they make you an offer so you know if it is a fair offer. You can go to www.autotrader.com put in your car info and your zip code and you will find cars like yours currently for sale. Print out 5 to 7 of the cars the closely match yours. Average the prices to develope an overall average value of your car. Then if their offer is not in the ball park you can send the info you found to try to negotiate a better price.

As far as a law suit is concerned, you can not sue the insurance company. You would have to sue the lady that hit your car since she is the one that damaged it. It will be hard to find an attorney willing to handle this because in court you do not also get attorney fees. So you would have to pay the attrney out of your pocket and most will not go to court for less than $2000.00.

Just stay on top of the insurance company and file the complaint if it becomes necessary.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh