Legal Question in Personal Injury in Missouri
Vehicle accident
My daughter was involved in a accident, which she feels was not here fault, but at the seen no one was ticketed, and the Highway patrol stated it would probally end up being no fault, my daughter did not have insurance at the time, but the accident happened on private property in a lake resort. not saying its ok that she did not have insurance, but the insurance company of the other party tried to reach my daughter once for a statement, she was not home, so they said they would call back. They never did and now it has been 6 months and there is collection agencys calling her trying to collect the $6,000 for the other car. I dont understand when it was not determined by anyone whos fault it was. What does she do at this point. There were not statements given by the insurance company at all.
Thank you
Debbie
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Vehicle accident
Unless your daughter has been found liable in a court of law, she is not liable for the damages to the other car. Simply put, while the insurance company can elect to sue her for the money it claims it is owed, it cannot simply send her to a collection agency. If the collection agency is notified that you dispute the debt, under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act they must stop all collection efforts. If your daughter is reported to the credit bureau, she may have a cause of action against whomever reported her because someone saying she owes for the car does not make it true.
If you find out a judgment was rendered against her, you should probably find out where it was rendered and then attempt to have it set aside. Most of the time this happens when she received paperwork she did not understand (a summons by mail, for instance) and didn't take any action on it, meaning the other side got a "default judgment." If this happened you need to contact an attorney right away.
Your daughter should send a certified letter to the insurance company AND the collection agency saying she disputes the debt and wants collection activity to stop immediately.
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