I was in an accident with another car. No police were called, and we just exchanged information. Once I realized that my insurance had lapsed, I told the other driver and we agreed I'd get new insurance immediately and say the accident happened on a different day. I did that and reported it to my insurance, and guess what? The guy had a LAWYER call me... so long story short. He played me and now I'm getting sued for like 15000 dollars. I know the insurance thing was a bad idea, but I retracted my statement with my insurance, and I'm in the clear with them.. but NOW I'm in trouble legally with this lawsuit. So they are suing me for 5800 for the car being totalled, 3000 in rental costs, 2000 in the wife's medical costs (who wasn't hurt at all), and I don't even know where the rest of the 15K iscoming from. Anyway, their lawyer is trying to fast talk me into settling out of court for 10500. What should I do?? I want to get a lawyer and go to court, but won't I automatically lose because I was unsinsured? Also, besides his passenger (wife) there were no witnesses and the police were not called. I'm sure they filed a report later though. Help!! I can't afford 10500, but why go to court if I am going to automatically lose? I'm in Calfornia. Please advise...

Thanks!!

No, the fact you had no insurance just means you don't have insurance to pay the bill.

What you have is that they have to prove you were at fault causing the traffic accident.
( now remember you also broke the law by not calling the police to the scene, and you can still be charged by the police for not calling them.

So when you go to court, it is not about having or not having insurance, it is how are they going to prove that you caused the accident.

But they didn't call the police either to the scene. So wouldnt' they be in trouble too?

Yes, just saying that it could happen.

But the main issue is that without a police report, or any witness, it will be only the word of each driver as to what happened

I think you better talk to attorney and pronto. Most don't charge for an initial consultation. Laws about required insurance and traffic accidents differ from state to state (and California is a country unto itself, I think?) enough that I would not necessarily rely on what is posted here. Besides, you sound like you are in enough trouble to use the rule of thumb I do-- when you are in that much trouble, an attorney will probably save you money. If you aren't sure, get a second opinion. Look in your phone directory, or call a Legal Referral Service, those are almost always listed in the front of phone directories. The lawyer may be able to confirm that without a police report there is nothing they can do to you, but I sure would want to hear that from someone credentialed in the matter unless you get lucky and hear from a California-based attorney here.

You don't say how the accident occurred or who was at fault. That's a key issue here. But as Chuck said, the fact that you were uninsured at the time has no bearing on the case. What does have a bearing is that you were willing to defraud your insurance company by lying about the date of the accident.

Frankly the amount of the suit doesn't seem unreasonable. $5800 for repairs and $3K for temporary rental is not out of line. Neither is $2K for medical treatment (some injuries don't come out immediately). Therefore a $10,500 as a settlement isn't unreasonable. However, the atty may be pushing because he knows you weren't at fault and well lose in court. So how the accident happened is key to the advice we can give.

I was coming off the highway, and my light was yellow. I crossed the line to make a left onto the street while the light was still yellow. The other car came full speed (maybe their light had just turned green?) and hit the front passenger side of my car. So it was the front bumper but on the passenger side. That's where they hit me, but the side of their car had most of the damage. So like the side of their car it that part of my car... or something like that. But my light was definitely yellow and I was somewhat in the intersection. No damage was done the driver side front of my car... just the passenger side. I wish I could draw it on here to give a good description. Anyway, what I really think happened was they saw the other light was yellow and figured they didn't have to slow down because theirs was about to turn red. But of course... they said I ran a red light, and I know when I started making my left, the light was yellow. There's no way I could have gotten in the intersection on that street to make a left if their light was green anyway. I was coming off the ramp and that's a busy street...

Of course once a light turns yellow if you are not already in the intercession you are not suppose to go into it, You are only suppose to cross the line into the intercessin if it is green and the yellow allows you time to get out.

But with that said, if there is no evidence that you were wrong, you can say they had to have ran the red light and hit you.

With no evidence the judge shouldnot be able to decide who wins and would make each pay for their own damge, ( this is very commom) it happens.

This is a time where you should have called the police, so you did not have insurance, do you know how many of those happen every day, I bet one in five accidents I investigated one person did not have insurance.

So the officer would give you a ticket for it, their report may or may not have shown fault and it would have also listed the actual damage to the other car.

So if that is what you think happened, go to court and testify, or hire your own attorney to answer their attorney and tell them to take a hike and shut up and sue. Remember a lot of liablity attorneys, esp ones that work on a percentage, don't actually want to go to court, they want to settle out of court, and they don't want payments but they want a single payment, so they can get paid.

The fact that you had no insurance doesn't automatically make your case a lost cause. The question boils down to whether you're legally liable for the damages the other party is claiming. Informing the other driver that you were going to get insurance and then report the accident as happening on a different day was a bad move indeed but that's water over the dam now. It'd be a good idea to get a lawyer immediately. Let your lawyer do all communicating with the other party's attorney. If the police weren't called and no report was filed and there were no witnesses then it's going to be pretty hard for them to substantiate their claims. They may have no case against you at all. In fact, your lawyer may even suggest you counter-sue them for the damages you sustained in the accident.

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Originally Posted by AlwaysInTrouble

I was coming off the highway, and my light was yellow. I crossed the line to make a left onto the street while the light was still yellow. The other car came full speed (maybe their light had just turned green?) and hit the front passenger side of my car. So it was the front bumper but on the passenger side. That's where they hit me, but the side of their car had most of the damage. So like the side of their car it that part of my car...or something like that. But my light was definitely yellow and I was somewhat in the intersection. No damage was done the the driver side front of my car...just the passenger side. I wish I could draw it on here to give a good description. Anyway, what I really think happened was they saw the other light was yellow and figured they didn't have to slow down because theirs was about to turn red. But of course...they said I ran a red light, and I know when I started making my left, the light was yellow. There's no way I could have gotten in the intersection on that street to make a left if their light was green anyway. I was coming off the ramp and that's a busy street...

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If your light was yellow then theirs wouldn't have been green. They entered the intersection against a red light and hit you. It sounds like you definitely have a fight in your favor and possibly a countersuit. Talk with a lawyer now.

Based on your description of the accident it would appear the other driver was at fault or, at least, primarily at fault. If you entered the intersection at a yellow, then he had to have run the red or was going too fast.

So, you NEED to get an attorney and let them handle it.