Legal Question in Personal Injury in Florida

My boyfriend was being taught how to drive in his friends car, his friend had no insurance and my bofriend crashed the car it is repairable but his friend said he should pay the full amount of the repair, my boyfriend feels he should be repsonsible for only half he was not told that there was so insurance until after the accident. Now his friend wants money and my boyfriend has no money he has 5 kids and living paycheck to paycheck. His friend went through the windsheild because he did not have on a seatbelt but my boyfriend did and he is fine. My boyfriend found a body shop guy to repair the car and his friend told him you take the car and repair it I am not paying because the car is totaled and it is not Totaled all three body shop guys said it is repairable what should my boyfriend do???


Asked on 10/03/12, 10:22 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joseph Justice The Justice Law Firm

Your boyfriend may have some responsibility for the damage to the car if it was caused by his negligence. However, the owner of the car is also negligent because he allowed an unlicensed driver to operate and uninsured vehicle without his seat belt on. The only way he could force your boyfriend to pay would be through a law suit for which he would probably need to pay an attorney since I doubt one would take the case you described on a contingency fee. In any case the amount would be offset by the amount of negligence attributable to the car owner. It is also unlawful to operate a motor vehicle without at least some insurance.

There is a difference between totaled and repairable. Totaled just means the value of the repair exceeds the value of the car which is common on older cars.

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Answered on 10/03/12, 10:43 am


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