Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

File a claim with your own insurance company if you have collision and/or comprehensive coverage. Hopefully the insurer will pay the bills. It will then decide whether to sue the other driver.

Good luck.

Hopefully you got his name or license plate or any other identifying information. I don't think the cops were right and they should have cited him or impounded his truck for him not having a licence and/or not having insurance.

Be that as it may, the easiest thing to do is turn it over to your insurance, because hopefully that what you bought that coverage for.

If you don't have coverage then you can sue him in small claims court but you may have trouble finding him or collecting from him.

Good luck and hope this helps.

You may have a claim for negligence or something similar against him or his employer if he was working at the time. It may be worth it to consult with a lawyer. How likely is it that he will be able to pay you? Was he working for someone at the time? Can you find his employer? How likely is it that the employer can/will pay?

If the analysis leads one to decide that this matter is worth pursuing, then you will probably proceed in small claims court. You might want to contact the police dept. to get the & badge # of the responding officer. Make sure you make note of the date, time and location of the incident and well as the final location. Get 2-3 written estimates from reputable places for your repair costs (you can tell them it is for a claim).

If you decide to approach an attorney about this case, they will appreciate the advanced preparation.

M

Small Claims court is the best way to go if this is not covered under your own insurance. Even with your own insurance you may have a deductible. As indicated above the negligent party may have been in the course and scope of his employment. If you got the license # of the truck, an attorney can run the plate and find out who the registered owner is. The police should have done a report since there was damage to your car.

The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change.