Car accident

Car accident

justlearning1@hotmail.com	4/6/2005 10:26:18 PM
Thank you in advance for your suggestions. I live in Philadelphia, PA. Back in October 2004, I was rear ended by my wife's friend's sister. I did not call the police or report the accident to my insurance company (which was my first BIG mistake). I went out and got three estimates for her to review. I told her that she could just pay me the lowest one (around $500.00). She told me that she couldn't afford it and that she would have to submit it to her insurance. I told her to do what she had to do. Some time later, she said that she had a friend that owned a body shop and he would do it for her. She could not tell me the name of the body shop, so I told her that I was not interested. (I am very anal when it comes to my car. I just wanted things done right and the fact that her friend could do it and she didn't seem to know anything about the shop seemed shady) I then told her that I cracked my windshield (second BIG mistake) and that I was going to just use the money toward the windshield. I figured that was a bigger priority. This caused her to flip out. I thought about it more and I figured that I would give her the benefit of the doubt. I called her and told her to give me the name of the body shop so I can check it out. She told me that she would call me back with the name. Time went by and I kept leaving messages for her. I finally caught up with her and she told me that she had a number. It was the number to her lawyer. I called and left a message and hope to hear back from him tomorrow. I am not sure why I am contacting her lawyer. This seems shady. It is now April 2005 and the accident happened in October of 2004. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get her to take responsibility and pay for my car? Does anyone recommend small claims court? Am I just plain out of luck? Any help is appreciated. I tried to be a nice guy and this is where it got me. I will never make that mistake again.



el_roachmeister@yahoo.com	4/11/2005 9:34:42 PM
justlearning1@hotmail.com wrote: It is now April 2005 and the accident happened in October of 2004. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get her to take responsibility and pay for my car? Does anyone recommend small claims court? Am I just plain out of luck? I think you are out of luck. Anyone who can can not afford $500 is typically not a responsible person. You are wasting your time trying to collect from her.



Paul Cassel	4/11/2005 9:34:57 PM
justlearning1@hotmail.com wrote: [had a crash with an acquaintance. No reports done. Now she won't pay and has referred him to her lawyer.] ... It is now April 2005 and the accident happened in October of 2004. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get her to take responsibility and pay for my car? Does anyone recommend small claims court? Am I just plain out of luck? Any help is appreciated. I tried to be a nice guy and this is where it got me. I will never make that mistake again. Most of the time these things do work out so there is no reason to assume a bitter or hard stance from now on. I don't think your error was in not reporting, but letting it drag on w/o a report to your insurance. You can try now, but I think it's too stale. At this point, she may have taken the stance that you are harassing her which is why the lawyer. Are you SURE she agrees that she's responsible? As far as getting her to take responsibility, that's outside of legal advice. Try Dear Abbey. As far as going to small claims court, well, why not as that is what it is there for. You will need to prove your case in the sense of she's at fault and you need to demonstrate damages. Go to your local small claims court. Ask if there is a court clinic or pro se advisor there - most have them. Then consult with that person laying out the basics of your case and see what they say. In many cases of small claims, you can recover your filing and service fees (but not your time) if you prevail. -paul ianal

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