What can I do if I was hit by an uninsured motorist who now refuses to pay?
Question Details:
A lady from out-of-state hit my truck and she has no insurance. I only have liability. She agreed to pay for the damages after seeing an estimate from a local body shop. I went and got an estimate and it totaled $700. She doesn't want to turn this into insurance company because she has none. She now is refusing to pay me the total estimate. Should I turn it into my insurance company to get my money or should I take her to small claims court?
If you have uninsured motorist coverage, you could file a claim with your insurance company for the property damage to your vehicle caused by the uninsured driver. If you don't have uninsured motorist coverage, filing a lawsuit in Small Claims Court as you indicated would be an option. If you prevail in Small Claims Court, you will still need to enforce the judgement in order to receive compensation from the other driver. Usually, people who don't have auto insurance don't have assets to pay the judgement. If that occurs here, one possibility would be to pursue a wage garnishment after prevailing in Small Claims Court.
