[QuincyArcher]

What is the name of your state? CA

I'm suing a party for roughly $5k in auto damages. They hit me from behind, but claimed it was a hit-and-run. Although I and one other witness (who may not be able to show up in court) saw nothing of the sort.

I'm wondering if anyone can give me any advice on how to present the case in the best manner possible. Here is all the evidence I have that it was the other party's fault and NOT that of a hit-and-run driver:

1) When the other party reported the hit-and-run driver, they reported the car as a Saturn to their insurance company, while the police report filed by them said it was a Honda.

2) The driver of the car apologized initially but then suddenly changed their story when another person arrived on the scene.

3) The driver offered me a discount on auto repair and gave me a card with the information on it, saying they were not going to go to the police. (But then later did.)

4) There was NO visible damage on the back of the other person's car.

I have an estimate signed by the auto repairman detailing the damage costs. Is there any other documentation anyone would recommend taking? The case is in 1 week. Thanks.

[RickJ]

I'm not up on the law, but just my thoughts:

Did you get the contact info of any of the witnesses? If so, that would be your key.

If there's no damage to the rear of the guy's car, then his claim that he was driven into your car will simply not fly.

Good luck with it!

[ScottGem]

Why are YOU suing him? This is what you have insurance for. You need to file a claim with his insurance company or with yours. Your insurance company will sue his company for anything they pay out to you. You should not have to be suing anyone unless he didn't have insurance.

[QuincyArcher]

I have the contact info. Of the other witness, however, they've been dodgy about returning my calls and I don't know if they will come to court or not.

Our insurance company did absolutely nothing to help us get the money from theirs. (We had State Farm and they had Geico.) It seemed like the more direct approach would be to go around dealing with the insurance claims. Are you saying that this case won't be valid?

[Fr_Chuck]

1. Did your insurance company pay you for the damage, if so, you would only be able to collect the dedcutablea and any loss not paid for by the insurance.

2. For the trial, you will have to have them served with court papers to appear.

3. Why was the police not called to the scene ( this is normally a wonder since if there is that much damage, there is a requirement to call them.
So without a police report it is going to be harder, and the explain of why the police was not called may have to be explained also.

4. And all you have to do is prove the other car hit you, he would have to prove that a car hit him hard enough to hit you.

[QuincyArcher]

Thanks for the interesting points Fr_Chuck.

1) Our insurance company DID NOT cover for anything. Really bad deal for us.

2) That's already taken care of. In fact, the case is next week!

3) That was a bad move on all our parts. No one called the police to the scene and everyone left. I will definitely remember this for next time..

4) This is interesting, I'll keep it in mind. There is obviously proof that his car hit us, we have pictures and everything. And since there's no visible damage on his car, he can't get evidence. This is giving me self-confidence, thanks!

[ScottGem]

I fins it hard to believe those insurance companies didn't deal with this properly. I have Geico and I was involved in a accident with a State Farm policyholder a couple of years ago. They hit me and there was no question about it. I contacted Geico and they contacted State Farm which paid the claim.

I don't know what state you are in, but State Farm should have paid your claim, then gone after Geico for reimbursement. This is the way it should have been handled. That's the way the policies are written. You should not have to go to court at all.

While you appear to have a valid case, there is another issue here. Did you name State Farm and Geico as defendants? I believe you should have. I suspect the judge is going to throw this back to the insurance companies because that what you have insurance for.