Financial Channel

Hi, I live in California, I was involved in a car accident 3 months ago (April 2006).
The other driver was at fault and driving a company vehicle. My vehicle has sustained approx. $5,000 damage. I took photos immediately and have prints available.
I called the police to the scene and they questioned the other driver who turned out not having i.d. or a driver's license or insurance. I filed a police report. The police indicated that the other driver is probably an illegal mexican immigrant. I asked what my legal rights were and he told me that immigration is out of his hands.

I am covered for uninsured motorists with a $1000.00 deductible.
However, I want the owner of the company vehicle to pay since it was his employee driving without a license or insurance. When I spoke to his insurance company, they told me that their client instructed them not to pay anything on this claim.

What are my options?
Thanks

You have insurance, make your claim to your insurance company, the company vehicle that hit you is responsible for whom ever hit you, they are not uninsured. If this company in knowingly hiring illeagals to operate their vehicles, that is another issue. You can report them to the USICS. Was the other driver cited? Was this a landscaping truck or housekeeping vehicle by any chance?

I initially contacted my insurance company who instructed me to have my vehicle fixed and that I would be responsible for paying the $1000 deductible.
They said they will pay for the repairs minus this deductible. However, this will increase my insurance premium and the other driver's company's insurance should be responsible for repairing my vehicle, not mine.

The illegal immigrant was cited by the police, and the police told me that he would need to appear in court IF, in fact, that was his REAL name or even if that was his REAL address, because he had no i.d., he could have told the police anything! The citation was written up, basically, just to show that the police made some sort of attempt.

Also, right after the accident occurred, the mexican called his employer (supervisor) who also came to the scene. The police asked him why he had somebody driving his company vehicle without a driver's license. The supervisor told the police "well, you see, it's like this....the owner of the company is away on vacation and we needed to have a delivery made, so....this was just a one-time delivery that I used this guy...."

I talked to my insurance yesterday, and they said they'll investigate further.
They are just blowing me off! I just want my vehicle fixed.

IT is not an uninsured claim, the owner of the company is responsible for their employee under the legal doctrine of respondeat superior, your insurance company knows that. Have you obtained copies of the police reports? Did you check on the disposition of the citaiton?

They are now claiming that I caused the accident. I have photos of the other driver's vehicle slammed into the side of mine. The photos speak for themselves.

I have requested a copy of the police report. The person handling my claim at All State is on vacation for another week though, so I have not received it yet.

YOUR insurance company should have requesed a copy of the police report when you initially made your claim, this should not even be a question all these month's later, there is something you are not telling us. Just because he slammed into you doesn't me he is at fault. What happened?

I was at the starbucks parking lot. I was stopped and waiting for traffic to clear before I could make my right turn onto the highway. Next thing, a truck was making a right into the same parking lot. So I was going out, he was coming in. However, instead of keeping right, he went diagonally accross the entrance (this starbucks entrance is also the entrance to a strip-mall) and proceeded to cut accross the lot. That's when he hit me in the side front driver & passenger door.
I immediately got out - he asked me not to call the police and that his supervisor would take care of everything. He called his supervisor and I called the police.
I called my insurance company and they told me to get the truck fixed, to pay the deductible and they'll pay the rest. I gave them the other driver's info. and the company owner's info.

Then YOUR insurance company determined that you were at fault if they are not going after the truck's insurance company. You can try taking the unsocumented worker to small claims court if you like and don't forget your pictures.

The company vehicle is insured and should cover any worker/permissible driver using it. The only way coverage could be denied would be if the owner stated he did not give permission to the driver. In that case the owner would be required to file a stolen vehicle report and press charges against the driver. Have you received a denial letter stating there is no coverage?

It maybe hard to prove who is at fault without a solid police report or independent witness, the driver may have a different story that is just as convincing as yours. If the police issued any driving violation that would be solid evidence, the driver being illegal has no bearing in a liability decision.

The police report only has value if it has convicting evidence, like a diagram, statement from both parties, citations issued. If it is just an exchange of insurance information and names , then it doesn't have a lot of value.

Insurance companies do order police reports but they can not do so directly, it can take weeks or months (in CA up to 6 months)to go through a 3rd party agency, so it is best to just fax the police report in yourself if it has ample evidence in your favor. You can get it directly from the police because you were involved in the accident.

What did you insurance company tell you? What was their liability decision?

If they say you are 100% fault free, and the other guy's insurance company states their driver is 100% fault free, then you should at least get back 1/2 of the deductible eventually through an arbitration process where an independent panel listens to both insurance companies, if it is word vs wd, they will usually go 50/50 which in CA means you can recover 50%.

I don't buy into the lie that the company vehicle has no coverage for this accident.