Legal Question in Personal Injury in Illinois
I was involved in a car accident on September 24th 2010 in joliet,il. I was rear ended while sitting in traffic. The driver had no license and was in a rental car that was not rented by him. He was arrested for a warrent out of state and suspended license but two days later released. I contacted the rental company and they are telling me that I need to go through my own insurance company because they have not spoken to the person who rented the car and also that when they speak to the person they were going to have her sign a affidavidt stating she didnt give the person permission to drive the car. I asked them for the renters information and they stated it was against the law for them to release it. I went to three different collision places to get estimates the first two wouldnt even write one because they stated the car was totalted, the third one wrote an estimate for over $1200 dollars and said they are sure it would be more once they lift the car up because the guy messed up my frame. I took it to my insurance company estimator and at first he told me the car was totaled but when I talked to my insurance company they said they could fix it for $574 with me paying the $500 which is my deductible and they paying the $74. Now I just find that to be a little suspicious. What I would like to know is what I should do in this situation. I don't know where to go from here.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Get the name and contact info for the rental car's insurance. File a claim. They will deal with the renter and whoever the renter may have given the car to. If this is not a "major" rental agency (like Hertz, Avis, etc.) you may have yet another problem. As to your insurance, of course you can do it that way, but you'll want them to sue under their right of "subrogation" to get back what they spend for fixing your care AND to get your deductible back, otherwise you're left with a lawsuit for $500 and that's a pain. And I have no idea if your insurance will sue for this amount -- you need to talk to your agent. HOPEFULLY you got the name of the driver and the renter? If they have insurance their insurance should be responsible too and you should try filing claims there too. If you didn't get the info, that is a problem. If these immediate efforts don't help you will have a "business" decision to make: hire an attorney to go after these folks, or get your insurance to handle it and hope they can collect your deductible too, or risk having to sue all 3 (rental agency, renter and driver) for the $500.00.
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. Attorney is currently licensed to practice law actively only in the State of Illinois, inactively in Florida. Responses are based solely on Illinois law unless stated otherwise.
One other thing to consider... In Illinois, if your car is less than 8 years old, your carrier CANNOT let you keep the car if it is deemed a total loss. It is against the law (Illinois Administrative Code 50, Section 919.)
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