Car Accident? - Los Angeles,CA

Hi J....I am a liability insurance adjuster. First of all, since she only has liability insurance coverage, she can file her own Small Claims action against the other party in an attempt to collect for her own damages (replacement of her car, including a Loss of Use claim). Unfortunately she can not be represented by an attorney in Small Claims Court. She should advise her insurance company, however, that she has received a notice to appear in Small Claims and they will have an adjuster appear with her in Court. (Because if the Judge found your daughter to be at fault, then her insurance company would be on the hook to pay the judgment under her liability insurance coverage, so they will want to appear to protect your daughter and their interests). She should bring a copy of the Police Report with her, together with photos of the scene, at least two estimates (she should also bring an evaluation from Kelley Blue Book as you indicate it is a total loss) and if there were any witnesses, she can subpoena them to testify on her behalf (or she can see if they'll prepare a written statement too). These are all things that your daughter's insurance company should assist her with. Good luck....Let me know if I can be of any further help.

Make sure that she contacts her insurance company even though she only has the liability coverage. They have the ability to fight it out with the other insurance company and they should represent their insured even though they may not have to cover her loss. Make sure that the other person's insurance company receives a copy of the police report and file dispute with their insurance company regarding the fact that they are not paying.

Your daughter should probably file a counter claim in small claims court and bringing the police report would help in court. Also, have her make a drawing and jot down notes about what happened while it is fresh in her mind. If she took any pictures at the scene those would be good to bring too!

Good Luck!

Hold on here, was there a police called? If not it's her word against your daughter's word and you call your insurance company and discuss it with them. They will guide if they are any sort of a decent insurance co. even if it's to direct you to lawyers or your lawyer. If there is police involvement in our state there is a ticket issued and the person who got the ticket is at fault. It can still be hashed out if desired or necessary. As far as your insurance co goes...If they do not help you at all I suggest you drop them. Accidents are insurance issues, if you have only liability you need to move very quickly with a lawyer so you can have the damages assessed and get it into court. As always document every single thing that has happened. Especially if there were medical issues. Paperwork for repairs kept in certain spot, pictures didn't used to be accepted because they can be staged but maybe now they can so save some, keep track of phone calls made and if there is a court case make sure you have all this. Sadly when you purchased liability that comes with the understanding that we might not get anything back in the event of an accident unless someone else was deemed at fault. We have all of our cars on liability insurance only. In only the most recent incident where someone was clearly at fault when my son was t-boned, we were always totally aware that liability limits one s results Good luck to you. I hope it all works out fine.

Get the police report!

Hi there,
If she is not at fault as the police report says, then she should have nothing to worry about. Just make sure she has her story straight. The police report is what the insurance company goes by. Just make sure they have it. (both parties) The insurance company should cover her losses no mater what they say....they won't have a choice. Your daughter should not be talking to the other person involved in the accident only insurance companies. Make sure you take pictures, even though pictures will be taken by an adjuster (I can't remember if it is done by the other insurance or your daughters)
Don't worry, it will all work out. Luckily, there was a police report taken, that was the smartest thing done. If it is the other parties fault, then there is no gettting around it.
Good luck!

Get the police report.

Hello, Even if your daughter only has liability insurance, she should still be able to have her insurance company to represent her. If she doesn't have a copy of the police report, then she needs to get one. She should speak to a lawyer.
Good luck with this. I wish your daughter a lot of luck as well.
K. K.

If you daughter has not talked with her insurance company about this and is going to court on her own then she will need the police report. I was in an accident with a school bus and that was a nightmare since the bus driver said I hit him(I didn't) and the school district insurance went with him until my insurance company went to them with the police report and it said I was backing uup and the bus was over the center line then they had to pay up. It was a long process but it turned out that school had to pay for all my stuff. Good luck to your daughter and God Bless.

Was there a police report taken at the scene of the accident? Usually the police report will indicate who was at fault. You or your insurance company can provide the report to the other drivers insurance.

Why isn't the insurance company involved?
I was in an accident. We both said it was not our fault. The insurance companies did their thing, investigation, interview, what not, and then agreed with me. End of story.
I think she needs to call her insurance company and get them involved.

of course their insurance is going to believe their story--it'd cost them less (I was in an accident where the other party said I rear ended them, but my car hit the SIDE of theirs--and their insurance blamed me... we showed them the pictures and clarified that!) Have you spoken directly to their insurance company? You might be able to clarify and settle things on your own. Send them a copy of the police report if they don't have it.

If you end up in court, use the police report and any pictures you might have. Make sure you and daughter go over the story and make sure she can explain any details in case she is asked--don't want to stumble on words in court and look guilty. You might go back to the scene and take pictures of the signs, street markings, skid marks, etc. If it involved a signal, time the lights. The more info you have the more responsible and less guilty you'll look.

Get the police report. Was the other driver cited with a ticket and/or listed as "at fault" on the police report? Call your insurance company, a claims adjuster should have or should investigate the accident and deal directly with the other insurance company (this is the service you get for paying all those premiums). If the other driver is taking her to court, your insurance company should also provide you with a lawyer and, most of the time, these kinds of things are settled out-of-court. DO NOT show up in court, even small claims court, without a lawyer!!!!!!!!!! We learned that the hard way.

Very good answers. But don't forget to file a counter claim against the other driver. If you do the insurance Co. would have no other option but to pay you for your damages. So get estimates done (atleast 3) to take with you. Being that its her words against your daughters' the police report would the deciding factor so make sure you have that with you. Let us know how it went. Goodluck.