Is My Only Option Small Claims Court?
I got in a car accident with a person who was ininsured and un licensed. I was going through a green linght and they failed to stop while making a right hand turn. The cops refused to show because there was no injury and there was 4 thousand dollars of damage done to my car wich they refused to help with. Is small claims a viable solution and do i stand a fair chance of winning?
September 5th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Sounds like what happened to me and my husband. The cops didn’t help us at all, the jerk was uninsured, no license and drunk off his butt. Totalled our car (only had liability). His step daddy was a lawyer and schmoozed with the judge to get him off most charges. This complete waste of a human being had no real ‘assets’, the cops and the court were TOTALLY UNHELPFUL with restitution as well. BUT, you may be in luck. Ask the court if there is a victims restitution office where you are at. If you were in the car at the time of the accident, and this case goes to trial (you filed a police report, right????), and even if he doesn’t have money, the state (or at least the state of Pennsylvania) can reimburse you for damages. Of course the catch is (and we learned it too late) that even if you are outside of your car- or in my case, 10 feet away when the drunk SOB almost runs you down and hits your car- they won’t pay restitution because they claim it’s not a ‘hit and run’ because you weren’t IN your car. What a bunch of BS, huh?
You should definitely pursue this, especially if he’s got property. But, I’d go the less expensive way first and bring him up on charges.
Even if you get a judgement against him, and he won’t get his license till he pays it, there isn’t always a guarantee that you’ll get your money. But, go for it, you lost a lot of $$$. Good luck!!
PS: Don’t try a lawyer, you’ve already lost money already. Most aren’t very helpful in these sorts of cases, and many are overpriced.
Also, you might try an online search to see if he’s got a record of doing this in the past.
September 5th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Get an attorney who will work on a contingency fee basis. I would not go to small claims court
September 5th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Well that might be your only option as far as getting a judgment, but you have to ask yourself will you ever get paid. It is rare that a person actually signs a check right after a judgment.
Yes you could get an attorney but for 4000 dollars of damage the attorney would probably want about 1/3 and even if he is starving it still might not be worth it. If that is the only damages. There could be more and an attorney would be able to instruct you.
Is there not uninsured motorist insurance in your state. Just remember that winning doesn’t always mean $$.