Legal Question in Insurance Law in California

Re: Insurance company refusing to pay

You can sue the defendant, not his/her insurer. Go to small claims for $5,000 or less.

Re: Insurance company refusing to pay

You can sue not only for lost time from work, but your doctor bills (if any), -and- your pain and suffering. That's worth something, as well.

Re: Insurance company refusing to pay

You can sue the driver, but not the insurance company. The insurer doesn't have a contract with you and it didn't hit you either, so you have no rights against it. The driver did hit you so he is the one you should sue.

Keep in mind that the driver has a finite amount of insurance, and that he may have used all of it to cover the damage to your car. His insurance company has no obligation to pay more than the policy limits it agreed to provide, even if those limits were insufficient to cover your entire loss. If this is what happened you can still seek a judgment against the driver, but the money will have to come from him directly.

The amount of your damages will be limited to your actual finanical losses including medical expenses, lost income and possibly other itsems, plus pain and suffering if you were injured *and if you had insurance at the time of the accident*. If you were an unisured driver then you cannot recover for pain and suffering. Punitive damages will not be available from the insurance company, but may be from the driver if he hit you intentionally or was extremely reckless.

Can you get a lawyer? Yes, but you will have to pay him. Lawyers won't take very small cases for a contingency fee, so if your loss is just a few day's income you will likely not be able to get an attorney on such a basis unless your income is very high. You would then have to pay the lawyer's fee yourself, and you may not find that worthwhile.

If your total loss is $5,000 or less you can sue in small claims court. You can also bring a small claims suit if your losses were higher, but you will have to forfeit any amount in excess of $5,000. Parties cannot be represented by counsel in small claims cases here in California, so you won't have to worry much about legal fees. But even if you decide to represent yourself you might want to pay an attorney to spend an hour or two helping you prepare.

Good luck.

Re: Insurance company refusing to pay

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