I am facing a serious situation.I had a car loan and then I gat into an accident.It was a hit and run and the police never found the people that hit me.Unfortunelty right before that, because of serious financial problems, I couldn t make my insurance payments.Now I received a call from a lawyer saying that I should either pay the whole lump sum or got to court where I will be sentenced to jail and all of that... I am still in a terrible financial situation as I am self employed and working on a business that should take off soon once I get funding for it..
What should I do? Can I go to jail for this??
I need help..
Thank you..

NO you can't go to jail, there is no one a Debtor Prison, they tell you that to scare you.

Thank you for the reply. Now If they don t have my current address and employment informations, do I still have to go to court?
Also I am willing to work out a payment plan? Is there a good way to go about negociating a settlement..
Thank you again.

If you are serve with a summons, go to court, call the loan company explain your problem an try t owork it out with them. But it you get a summon, got to court or they will automatically get a default judgment.

So they need to obtain my current address to serve me with a summons, right?
Also are those collection agency lawyers?
Because it looks like my loan default has been to transferred to a collection agency..
Thank you for your help.

I am facing a serious situation.I had a car loan and then I gat into an accident.It was a hit and run and the police never found the people that hit me.Unfortunelty right before that, because of serious financial problems, I couldn t make my insurance payments.Now I received a call from a lawyer saying that I should either pay the whole lump sum or got to court where I will be sentenced to jail and all of that...I am still in a terrible financial situation as I am self employed and working on a business that should take off soon once I get funding for it..
What should i do?? Can I go to jail for this???
I need help ..
Thank you..


First most likely you did not get a call from an attorney, but got a call from a very low life collection agent. Next are you making the car payments, as long as you are making the payments they can't do anything.

You do and will have to pay for the car. If you call them and work out a payment plan on the balance, that should settle it.

If you can't pay them, let them sue you, they will get a judgement, and then they will

1. attach (take) all the money in all of your bank accounts, so bascily before that court date you close all of your bank accounts if you have any.

2. put a lien on your home if you own one.

3. get a garnishment of your wages, that can range differntly I have seen a couple cases of someone getting 1/2 of their wages taken, but this was someone not married living at home with mom. The average is about 25 percent of your wages.

Now the business can be an issue, since if you get funding they may try to attach this also. So you will have to incorporate your business to protect the money there. Also it is likely you having a personal judgement may hurt your getting finical help on a business also.

So they need to obtain my current adress to serve me with a summons, right?
Also are those collection agency lawyers?
Because it looks like my loan default has been to transferred to a collection agency..
Thank you for your help.

Yes, they need your current address to serve you with a summons.

Yes, they proabally are collection agency lawyers. However, honestly, I think they lied to you and were just pretending to be lawyers. Because no lawyer would have threatened you with jail time since you can't go to jail for not paying your bills.