I was in a accident in 2006 in California and I was at-fault. Woman at a red light turning right began to merge as she had plenty of time and space. She then stopped for some reason, as I began to attempt to merge looking over my left shoulder and saw a still safe opening I started to go and rearended her rental car. The woman I hit was driving a rental car, and didn't take the additional insurance offered. My insurance then paid for the damages I caused to the other vehicle, but now her personal insurance company is suing me for the deductable and court fees they had to pay, because she didn't take the insurance with the rental company. Is this legal? And what are my chances of fighting this?

What did your insurance pay ? Merely for the costs that the rental company had, or all the repairs to the car ?

You merely turn it over to your insurance, and let them either pay or fight it, they should be taking care of this.

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Originally Posted by Hornet75

I was in a accident in 2006 in california and i was at-fault. Woman at a red light turning right began to merge as she had plenty of time and space. She then stopped for some reason, as i began to attempt to merge looking over my left shoulder and saw a still safe opening i started to go and rearended her rental car. The woman i hit was driving a rental car, and didnt take the additional insurance offered. My insurance then payed for the damages i caused to the other vehicle, but now her personal insurance company is suing me for the deductable and court fees they had to pay, because she didnt take the insurance with the rental company. Is this legal? And what are my chances of fighting this?

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Court fees? Yes, this is legal. Your chances of fighting it are good; your chances of winning are not good.

You cannot dictate which claims your insurance will pay or what amounts and this is accident is clearly your fault. The other driver and her company should not be forced to pay any part of the damages.

Did she sue you for personal injury?

She didn't need to take the additional insurance since she already had a "home" policy. As Judy said, she shouldn't have to pay any part of this since you were at fault. In fact, whether she was driving a rental or not isn't even the issue-- you were at fault so your are responsible for the damages you caused.