united-states utah
Pursuing damages from an uninsured motorist?
<p>This week my wife and I were rear-ended while at a stop light.</p>
<p>The other driver was uninsured and was put in handcuffs and taken away by the police because they thought she was also intoxicated. I have had no contact with her since then, but I have a phone number on the sheet the officer gave us at the scene.</p>
<p>I had a preliminary estimate of $1,800 to repair the damage to my car. I have uninsured motorist coverage, but I carry a $1,000 deductible. My truck is 14 years old, worth only maybe $5,000-$6,000. The damage is cosmetic and my truck is still able to be driven.</p>
<p>I'm assuming that for these modest numbers it is not worth the expense of hiring an attorney (or is it?).</p>
<p>I realistically have only a few options to try and recover any damages:</p>
<ol>
<li>Small claims court</li>
<li>Open a claim with my insurance company, and let them try and collect from her</li>
<li>Contact her directly and ask nicely :)</li>
</ol>
<p>I'm thinking that small claims court might be a victory only in principle. As I understand it, even after getting a judgement collecting the money is a whole other matter.</p>
<p>Are there other options I should be considering? Or is this basically a lost cause?</p>

<p>Did you get a copy of the accident report from an officer on scene (the one time I've been a crash, I was given a slip of paper similar to a ticket with some basic info and the full report was available for request a few days later when in the system).   For the insurance company it was enough just to get the case number on the ticket and they did the leg work.   Consider yourself lucky it was only cosmetic.   You can also reach out to the officer in the report OR the prosecutor's office.  Although they might reach out to you, don't expect it, as they only need you to testify in court if a plea agreement isn't struck (90% of all criminal cases in the U.S. end in a plea bargin of some sorts.).</p>
<p>Either way, it's prudent for your own records to get copies of the reports as well as the estimation for the repairs.  As you said, it is cosmetic, so it's not like the repairs are necessary to the safe operation of the car (However, if you can clarify what the truck is used for, it might make a difference.  It's one thing if it's your own pickup truck used for hauling stuff for weekend projects you have to fix up the house... it's another thing if it's a pickup truck you use to carry your equipment for your landscaping company, as the &quot;cosmetic&quot; damage impacts your proffessional image in that people will be less likely to contract with you, in addition to any custom paint job with contact information needing specialty repairs.</p>
<p>Suing for damages will likely put this in small claims court, which is helpful as it's more friendly to pro se litigants and if you have all your above information in order, it should be sufficient to win (Civil courts do not need to meet &quot;Beyond Reasonable Doubt&quot; standards of evidence, but Preponderance of evidence (i.e. it's more likely that it happened one way vs. the other) which this should cover.).   The down side is a lot of people who drink and drive are often not financially well off... and a lot of people who don't have insurance do so because they can't afford it... I'm not saying this is 100% of the case,  but if she can't afford auto insurance, well, she's not likely to afford a $1800 repair job, oh, and she's likely going to do some jail time, as DUI with a collision normally carries jail time, and that's before the fact that she was driving without insurance (usually a fine). So she's going to be out a good chunk of cash from criminal cases.  You don't have to wait for criminal proceedings to occur, but having the conviction as evidence helps a lot... but this means you have to wait for her to get out of jail to really begin to start the legal process of trying to collect.</p>
<p>Sure you can sue, but you still can't get blood from a stone (As Lawyers say, there may be a case, but it's not worth it if they can't even pay).</p>
<p>At the end of the day, no matter what you do, try and keep some perspective.   As unlucky as it is that this happened to you, there are lots of DUI victims out there who would gladly give their first born son (or any child of your choosing, it's 2020) to come out of their experiene with only cosmetic damage that did not total a 14 year old vehicle.   After all, for so many who have been the victim of drunk driver... they already paid that price of a child and sometimes... the drunk driver took more than just one.   Those are damages no amount of money can ever cover.</p>
