Question by kinkeebug: What kind of lawyer do i need? i am being sued in a no-fault car accident.?
Got into a car accident 7 months ago. guy with an ford F-250 (big truck) ran red light and totaled my 4cylinder camry. I had no insurance, stupid i know, but the fact is , it was not my fault!
A- police report said it was a NO FAULT.
B- cop at scene denied me a witness.
C- got a notarized written statement from the witness.
D- State Farm denied my witness as well!
E- months later State Farm sends me a 3.000 check. HALF of my totaled car’s damages
F- now a letter saying i must pay 6,300 in 30 days or i’ll be sued, suspened licesne and ruin credit!
!!! My car is still in my garage and everyone that’s seen it says you can tell that i got t-boned real hard and that it should be obvious that I GOT HIT!!!
Please any advice helps! what kind of lawyer do i need to seek? why would state farm send me money only to ask for money 4 months later? it doesn’t make sense.
my story is not all over the place and not full of holes, it is what it is. you say state farm wouldn’t pay me 3g’s then ask for more than double that back? well they did! i have the letter right here! i don’t get it either, which is WHY i am asking for advice genuises! they are now claiming it was my fault! but police reports say no fault! if you saw my car it’s obvious he was going fast enough to total. p.s. my car is still a mess in my garage! isn’t there a science that can prove this stuff? any other questions, just ask…i need genuine help, not snooty comments! what don’t you get?
thanx so much guys for your input.
yes i do have insurance now. the reason i’m gonna fight this so hard is because it really wasn’t my fault.
imagine this: you’re at a red light, waiting, you scan the radio in the meantime. THE CAR BEHIND YOU HONKS, you look up, the light is GREEN! i go to make my right turn. BAM! i get t-boned! btw, my witness is the lady that was behind me and honked! how in any way is this my fault? good thing is, i just found out that traffic light had a camera on it, so we might have footage. no one was hurt. only the guys grill got messed up, i took a picture! how is an old, rusty grill worth 6,300? yes i’ve learned my lesson, but i don’t feel i should have to pay a penny if i was in no way at fault! thanx again everyone!
Best answer:
Answer by Mike H
Personal Injury/Auto Accident possibly some Civil Law/Insurance Law, are categories that these lawyers often list under.
Normally, you can call your local county bar association which would be certified to give referrals out for lawyers.
What do you think? Answer below!
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
What the heck are you talking about?? Your story is all over the place. No way is State Farm going to accept liability and pay you 3K then turn around and sue you for 6.3K. I have a gut feeling you have left out some MAJOR portions of this tale….
You are either very confused or leaving out many details. Your story is FULL of holes…..
Sounds like State Farm found you 50% responsible for the accidnt. What they are doing is pursuing you for the portion of damage they believe you legally owe, 50% of their guys damages.
First off, liability for an accident is NOT determined by the cops; it is determined by the actions of the drivers prior to the impact as well as other factors as relayed through statements from the drivers. Second, just because you have a notarized statement witness means nothing…a judge won’t bother with and neither would State Farm. The witness must be questioned, or cross examined, which is something you can’t do with a notarized statement. Additionally, details you or the witness 1)may not deem relevant or 2) don’t even know are relevant, are not addressed. For example, if this is an intersection loss, how far had you traveled into the intersection before the impact? How far had the other driver traveled? Did you see the other car before the impact? If so, how far from them were you, and what were they doing? Were the approaching the intersection? Were they already in the intersection? Where were you when you saw them? While you were approaching the intersection, when you were already in the intersection? What did you do to avoid the accident? What did they do to avoid? SOOO many questions to ask and have answered. These are the same questions a judge is going to ask you.
As for a lawyer….depends on what court the suit is filed in. If it’s small claims court, sorry, lawyers aren’t allowed. If it’s Superior court then you’ll need an attorney who specializes in tort law.
Can you be held liable for all the damages because you were uninsured? Legally no, but that won’t stop a judge from coming down on you HARD during trial. Also, whether you were insured or not isn’t even the issue and can’t be introduced at trial, and neither can the police report–it’s hearsay unless the cop who wrote it shows up. The issue is who was proximate cause and did someone contribute to the loss.
If you’d had insurance your insurance company would be handling this for you. But since you CHOSE to drive without insurance, you’re in a legal mess now. Why don’t you ask State Farm why they sent you money and are now asking for it back? I don’t think anybody here would know.
A – Fault in a police report doesn’t matter, just the facts of the accident.
B – If the witness was not independent (meaning someone walking on the street or in a car NOT involved in the accident), the witness can be denied – was this witness IN your car?
C- That doesn’t matter.
D- They would deny if the witness was in YOUR car.
E- You were deemed 50% at fault & the other driver was deemed 50% at fault. What probably happened is you said you had the green light, he said he had the green light & there was no definitive evidence showing one of you actually had the green light. You are actually VERY lucky in this case, State Farm is the other guy’s carrier & could have said YOU were 100% at fault, believing HIM only. They are being VERY fair.
F- They are asking for 50% of his damages (they paid 50% of yours, you pay 50% of his, that is the way it normally works in 50/50 accidents). Call up State Farm, tell them you can’t pay the whole amount in 30 days & ask if you can set up a payment plan. They usually will work with you, they would rather deal with you like this instead of suing – lawsuits are expensive for them.
You can get a lawyer BUT, you will still need to pay State Farm back the $ 6300 & PAY the lawyer $ 150-200 per hour (I think that is the going rate, may be more now). I wouldn’t hire a lawyer unless you can ABSOLUTELY PROVE – by independent witness (or 2), if they can even remember the accident now, that it was NOT your fault.
Do you have insurance NOW? I hope so. This is an expensive lesson to learn. If you had insurance at the time of the accident, you wouldn’t be dealing with this, you would only be out 50% of your collision deductible & your car would be fixed (or totalled & paid for). It is much cheaper to have the insurance…even if you don’t make a claim for 10 yrs (looks like you are out about $ 12,300). I hope for your sake he was not injured, because you could be held liable for 50% of his injuries too.