Legal Question in Traffic Law in North Carolina
My friend was driving my car and wrecked the vehicle, with me in it. He is now refusing to pay for the damages, can I sue him in small claims court for this? The damages are somewhere around $4,500. He was at the scene when the police arrived & I have a police report indicting him. He didnt have a license at the time, which I wasn't aware of, he showed me his license but I later found out it was revoked. I have a copy of the police report, pictures of the damaged vehicle, estimate statements from my insurance company and the repair shop, and also text messages from when I tried to personally settle the matter. Also, say I "win" the case, how will I get my money? I know he has a minimum wage job but he doesn't have any property, he lives with his grandparents. Will I be able to use his grandparents' property as collectible debt? Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Even if you could go after his grandparents property - do you seriously think that would in anyway be fair? Anywho, you can't. As to suing him, you can but as you already point out he is likely judgment proof meaning if you did get a judgment and managed to figure out how to collect on it - you'd likely get nothing and your judgment would have about the same worth as used toilet paper. Probably the only thing you can do here is learn a life lesson about not letting someone use your car unless you are fully covered insurance wise.