Who Do I Sue?

[frankrizzo1]

i was rear ended by a tractor trailer. The insurance company denied my claim for damages. Do I sue the driver or the owner of the vehicle in small claims court.

Thanks to all

 

[Josh]

Not enough information to answer the question.

Why did the insurance company deny the claim? The insurance company will likely defend the driver at court and you probably will lose.

 

[frankrizzo1]

My best guess as to why the claim was denied was because a witness said that I stopped short. This happened on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, at 5pm, in what the other driver described as traffic that was "crawling". Its an accurate description. It was literally stop and go for more than ten miles. I suspect the witness to be another truck driver who lied to help the driver who hit me.

 

[Guest]

Did you get a cop report?

 

[1manshow]

The insurance normally follows the vehicle so you might start with the vehicle owner. I wouldn't spend too much money trying to defend my position if it were my word against the word of two other parties.

 

[AutoInsuranceExperts]

The police report will help for sure. However, based on the driving conditions (stop and go) and that you were rear-ended, the driver of the tractor trailer certainly had a duty to maintain a safe distance and even more so with crawling traffic.

Interesting that a claim was denied. If you provide more details (police report, injuries, have pix of vehs, etc...) then we may be able to give a more insightful opinion...

 

[arnguy]

My advice is for you to talk to a lawyer. Many lawyers will take a case on a contingency basis if it has merit so you do not have to plunk down any money up front.

 

[bangarang143]

Get a good lawyer on the phone. I'd call that your best rout at this point

 

[frankrizzo1]

Thanks for all the replies. The damages to my vehicle are minimal because of the slow speed. $860 to replace the rear bumper cover. I haven't tried but I don't think I could even get a lawyer on the phone for that. Small claims is my only chance. I decided to sue both the owner and the driver. When we get to court the judge will throw out the case that has no liability and I'll only be out 10 bucks for the second suit.

Thanks again to everyone.

 

[Josh]

My advice is for you to talk to a lawyer. Many lawyers will take a case on a contingency basis if it has merit so you do not have to plunk down any money up front.

If there is any money on the table here. If it's just some property damage, doubtful anyone is going to even give it a second look.