Quote:
Originally Posted by Motofool
Just for general learning from this experience: what to do if she was not insured?
Also, could you explain the last sentence a little farther?
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If the other person is uninsured/underinsured then the options depend on your coverage. If you have comprehensive, which includes collision, then your insurance company would pay out to you, minus the deductible, then they would go after the other person if the dollar amount of the payout and likelyhood of getting anything from them was within reason. If you only had the minimum liability and no collision then you would have to go after the other person for the amount of damages. If the other person has no attachable assets then things become challenging.
Basically, after getting a judgement against the other person in court (or small claims court for amounts of a few thousand dollars, check your state's limits and rules for small claims court) you would proceed to seize their attachable assets. Every state is different, do local research, small claims is generally the best way since lawyers aren't allowed or required. A judgement from a court is basically a piece of paper that gives you the legal right to go after their stuff. There are limits, for instance in Texas you can't take all their cars nor the tools of their trade, but their big screen TV and all their furniture is fair game.
People who make the conscious decision to drive poorly, like the driver in this case, will use tricks like preying on the victim's sympathies, to get out of owning up to their financial responsibilities. For them, it's a well-honed game. The more they get away with their bad driving decisions the more inevitable it will be before they kill or seriously maim someone.