Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Insurance Co. finds my son 'at fault'

1/17/06, 6pm, dark, heavy blowing rain.

Son at stop sign, turning left onto 4 lane road from residential side street.

He and passenger check traffic, see none, proceed.

Son's car hit in left front fender, by car without headlights on.

No injuries.

Police arrive, lady confirms to officer her headlights off, 'Oops, just picked up my kids'.

Police file no report, 'too busy'.

Son & lady covered by same insurance company('sic').

She, full coverage.

Son, 100/300 PL/PD, no collision.

She tells sic headlights were on.

I tell son he's been screwed.

Son gets 3 month run around from sic.

Our settlement request to sic and CA Dept. of Insurance;

Accident ruled No Fault,

Son fixes his car, she fixes hers,

No 'insurance points' against son.

sic's final ruling;

Conflicting statements,

No witnesses,

No police report,

No evidence.

Son at fault.

In sic's opinion, this is how a judge/jury would rule in court.

Is sic correct or just cutting losses?

Anything we can do?


Asked on 5/03/06, 4:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jonathan Stein Law Offices of Jonathan G. Stein

Re: Insurance Co. finds my son 'at fault'

First, you need to appeal the decision to the insurance company. You may want to hire an attorney or an insurance adjuster to help you write out the facts as the point on your sons insurance will get expensive. You can also request that they send this to arbitration. If they still rule against you, then you need to move to step 2.

At this point, you file a complaint with the Department of Insurance. Again, you need to lay out your case and request that they review this. If they find against you, then you are out of options.

I have written about this before at my blog, www.calpiblog.com

Good luck.

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Answered on 5/04/06, 12:31 am


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