Long read here but bear with me. Need some legal advice. Without going in to a ton of detail since it's still ongoing. About a week ago my wife and 2 young boys were in an accident. Wife's vehicle is totalled. Everyone is OK thank God! Another driver didn't yield and turned left in front of her, going the wrong way down a one way street. She broadsided his passenger side. He left the scene. Luckily there were several witnesses who got the tag # and one witness even followed for a few blocks and took pictures. Accident report is written up so that that driver was listed at fault and hit and run.
Turns out that vehicle is insured. Our insurance has covered the one week rental at 80%. We also have a deductible and our insurance has already cut a check for their appraised value of her vehicle. We still have not received anything from the at fault's insurance but got a phone call today. They asked my wife to give a statement on a recorded line, basically just facts about the accident. They asked if she was sure a male was driving which all the witnesses say yes it was a male. Wife confirms. Insurance rep says well our insured for that vehicle is supposed to be a female and no other drivers are authorized. Then they mention something about investigating the claim and something about subrogation.
Here's my concern. It sounds like they're going to try to pull a "well it wasn't our insured driver driving the vehicle so we're denying the claim". I called our insurance to find out about that and he basically said, well if that happens we will just file it as uninsured motorist and file the claim that way. They say our premium wont go up if that happens but I'm not so sure. So what if any legal options would we have if this happens? Should we let our insurance handle it or hire an attorney?
I'm not the suing type, but the fact that this idiot fled the scene in a car he supposedly had permission to drive, and went the wrong way down a one way street, I feel like whoever let him drive that car and their insurance should be responsible. My wife and I should in no way be liable for our portion of the rental costs, the deductible, and other out of pocket we've had to deal with during the last week. Not to mention, her car was paid off. We now have to get another vehicle and finance it because the check for appraised value wont realistically buy a similar vehicle.
Any tips or thoughts? I felt like getting some ODT expertise before spending money the professional route.
Turns out that vehicle is insured. Our insurance has covered the one week rental at 80%. We also have a deductible and our insurance has already cut a check for their appraised value of her vehicle. We still have not received anything from the at fault's insurance but got a phone call today. They asked my wife to give a statement on a recorded line, basically just facts about the accident. They asked if she was sure a male was driving which all the witnesses say yes it was a male. Wife confirms. Insurance rep says well our insured for that vehicle is supposed to be a female and no other drivers are authorized. Then they mention something about investigating the claim and something about subrogation.
Here's my concern. It sounds like they're going to try to pull a "well it wasn't our insured driver driving the vehicle so we're denying the claim". I called our insurance to find out about that and he basically said, well if that happens we will just file it as uninsured motorist and file the claim that way. They say our premium wont go up if that happens but I'm not so sure. So what if any legal options would we have if this happens? Should we let our insurance handle it or hire an attorney?
I'm not the suing type, but the fact that this idiot fled the scene in a car he supposedly had permission to drive, and went the wrong way down a one way street, I feel like whoever let him drive that car and their insurance should be responsible. My wife and I should in no way be liable for our portion of the rental costs, the deductible, and other out of pocket we've had to deal with during the last week. Not to mention, her car was paid off. We now have to get another vehicle and finance it because the check for appraised value wont realistically buy a similar vehicle.
Any tips or thoughts? I felt like getting some ODT expertise before spending money the professional route.
