Legal Question in Personal Injury in Kansas

My daughter had an accident. We do have UIM on our insurance. The guy who hit her did not have insurance coverage at the time of accident. He has insurance now. The accident occured on Dollar General parking lot in Galena, KS. The guy told her he had insurance but did not have his verification card with him. He told her he would call her asap with the insurance info. He told her not to call police because his insurance would take care of it. She came home, we then went to the police dept. and got a police report. The police dept then contacted the guy and got his info. At the bottom of report it states that the guy said it was entirely his fault. We called our insurance company and they contacted they guy. He told him that his insurance did not kick in until after the accident. Supposedly 2 days later. He told our adjuster that he wanted to take care of it and stay out of insurance process. He was going to pay for the repairs without needing to involve insurance. Our insurance would take care of the repairs, but we would have to pay Deductible and run the chances of insurance rates going up. We told him and insurance Co. that we would try and work with the guy to get repairs done. We went and got an estimate from a guy that has done work for us before and we trust him. Our insurance also came and gave an estimate as well. Our guy was about $250 cheaper than the adjuster's estimate but he wanted the money upfront so he would assure himself not getting stuck with the bill after repairs. The guy said he could not get the money til the end of January. Since then we faxed copies of the 2 estimates to the guy. He is now disputing both estimates and wants us to go to his family's bodyshop and get an estimate. We know his bodyshop guy will estimate it lower, but we don't know him or his work. We would rather have our guy do it for the $250 less than the adjuster estimated it for. Here is my QUESTION: What courses of action will we need to do legally to get the repairs done for her car? Can we even force him legally to pay for the repairs? What do we need to do?

Thanks for any info...Brian Mitchell


Asked on 1/26/12, 10:41 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

Based upon the facts you described, you and/or yoru daughter may bring suit agins the other driver for the damage done to the vehicle, or your deductible. That is asusmiong the statute of limitations time has not run out. It may be best for you to let your insurer get your car repaired and see if you can sue or get him to pay your deductible. Your insure may go after the other driver for reimbursemtn of what they have to pay to repair or replace the vehicle. Sinc ehe wa sdriving without insurance when the collision occurred, they may be abel toget the staet o suspend his driver's license until he pays. Once he fidns out that that is a possilbity, he may be less likely to dicker with you about $250. You may need to hire an attonrey to write to the other driver to let him know what options you may choose and what consequences he may suffer.

As this was not a Hit and Run uninsured motorist claim, it seems unlikely that this one incident will cause your rates to go up. The insurnce company may get reimbursed by the other driver, so there is little long-term cost to them regarding the claim.

Good luck

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Answered on 1/27/12, 3:52 pm


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