Legal advice please, I really need some help?

I would love some legal advice. I'm just not sure what the best thing to do is. I have been rear-ended by an uninsured driver. I have logged what happened.





Sunday October 12, 2008


I was hit in my VW Jetta going north on I85 by Jennifer Garner, 23 years old, in a black Nissan sentra. The police report states it is her fault and she received citations for improper lane change and following too closely.





Wednesday October 15, 2008


I picked up the police report from Gwinnett County around noon. I called Progressive (her listed insurer) and filed a claim early that afternoon. An agent called me about 30 minutes after the claim was filed and informed me that she was not insured at the time of the accident. I called Jennifer at the number listed on the police report around 5:00pm. I told her that Progressive said that there was a lapse in her insurance. She said, yes there was, but that she paid it the day of the accident. I asked if she paid it BEFORE the accident, and she said yes. I told her that they would not come out to do an estimate on my car until she proved that she did have insurance at the time of the accident. She got my number and said that she would call Progressive to straiten things out, and that she would call me right back. I went to work, and when I got off at 9:30pm, she still had not called back. I called her and got the answering machine. I did not leave a message. Five minutes later her dad, Tom Garner, called and told me that Jennifer did not have insurance and he would have to pay for the damages himself. I told him that would be fine. All I want is for my car to be fixed. I told him I suspected the damage to be around $2,000, and if it took longer than a day to fix, I would need a rental car during the time that my car was in the shop. He recommended a mechanic, someone he knew. I told him that I would be going out of town the following day, and would get an estimate the following Monday. I told him I would call him Monday after I got the estimate.





Thursday October 16, 2008


I called my insurance, Georgia Mutual, for advice on letting an uninsured motorist pay for damages and a rental car out of pocket. They advised me to give her an opportunity to pay for everything, and if there was any problem, I could still file a claim under my own insurance under collision, but there would be a $500 deductible. I do not have uninsured motorist on my own insurance. She said that if I do file under my own, that the insurance company would go after Jennifer for the amount of money paid to repair all damages, the amount of the deductible, the amount of the rental car, PLUS the dollar amount of the value lost on my vehicle due to the accident. The $500 deductible and value lost to my vehicle would be a check sent to me. I do want to give them the opportunity to pay for everything out of pocket without taking any legal actions. I called around 7pm and left a message for Tom Garner stating that I had an appointment to get an estimate on my car at Volkswagen on Monday, and that I had also spoken with my insurance, and that I would like to do what is in the best interest of both parties, and asked him to please call me back.





Monday October 20, 2008


I took my car to Dwight Harrison Volkswagen in Snellville, GA at 2pm for an estimate on the damages from the accident. They gave me a detailed estimate that totaled $1,004.17. Much less than I had anticipated. I called and left a message for Tom Garner around 3pm. I said that I had gotten an estimate from VW, and asked that he please return my phone call.





Wednesday October 22, 2008


In an effort to save Tom Garner some money, I took my car to Snellville Auto Collision for a second estimate. The total of that estimate is $840.35. I feel good about Snellville Collision, and would feel okay taking my car there to be fixed. When I had assumed that Jennifer鈥檚 insurance was going to pay for everything, I had planned to take my car to VW, and be done with it. Both locations said that the job would take three days. I came home and called three different car rental businesses to find Tom the best deal. I called Triangle, Hertz, and Enterprise. Enterprise has the best price at $175.55 for a three day rental with coverage. I called Tom at 4:15pm and left a message on the machine stating that I had gotten a second estimate that was almost $200 less than the first one, and would be happy to take my car there, and that I had gotten rates on a rental car. I asked him to PLEASE return my call so that we could get something worked out. I would like to get things done as soon as possible.





I would like to take my car in on Monday morning (October 27) and get it back Wednesday evening (October 29). If the job takes three days, this will eliminate Tom having to pay for my rental car over the weekend.





Thursday, October 23, 2008


I feel I have gone extremely out of my way in order to save Jennifer/Tom Garner as Legal advice please, I really need some help?
Could you possibly just ask us whatever question you wanted to ask, without all those paragraphs of background details?





What is it you wanted to know?Legal advice please, I really need some help?
OK, it sounds like you've been good about the accident. Is there still a problem? I assume that what you DIDN'T say in your question is that he didn't call you back today. I'd give it another few days. If you just get it fixed through your insurance company, there's a significant chance that you'll never see your deductible back - you'll only get it if your insurance company manages to get it from her, and that's far from a sure thing. And they can't collect from her dad, it's not his legal responsibility.