Legal Question in Personal Injury in Florida

I was recently in a parking lot fender bender. While backing out of a parking space I was hit by a lady who was backing out opposite me at the same time. While backing out I noticed that her car was moving and immediately rested on my horn. Once I saw that she did not respond to the horn from my car or the car of other driver, I tried to pull up to avoid the accident. However, it was too late. She made impact with me while I was at rest.

When I approached her she immediately began apologizing and said that she didn't see me or hear my horn blaring. I reported the accident to my insurance company and they've said that since there is no clear damage to the other driver's vehicle, no paint transfer, no witnesses, and the other driver denies "feeling" the impact, I will have to pay my deductible in order to get my car fixed. Can I legally prove that she basically admitted to me that she hit me and then lied to her and my insurance company? Will my case hold up in court?


Asked on 10/08/09, 10:28 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Alan Wagner Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore P.A.

Depends on what she says at trial. You can contact her and see if she will pay voluntarily. Perhaps she would. Did you get the names of the witnesses?

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Answered on 10/08/09, 10:34 pm
Robert Roemer Robert Roemer

You can call her first -but how much is your deductible at the time of the accident ? If it is 500-1000 is it worth the loss of your time to file a lawsuit-go to mediation-if it doesn't settle-go to trial with your word against hers as to the cause of the accident -but she may give in if you go forward because the legal fees for her to hire an attorney might be more than your deductible with no guarantee of winning-also -this could be considered an at fault accident against you which could increase your ins rates in the future which is a bad deal for you in that your ins. left you here so how good is their coverage -now you need witness to verify your truthful claim(it kinda reminds me of health care claims which tend to deny claims immediately and hope you live with it and pay it rather than them).

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Answered on 10/08/09, 11:53 pm


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