Legal Question in Personal Injury in Texas

On May 22, 2010, I was visiting my daughter in another city. At 2:30 in the morning, as I was asleep in her house, a drunk woman drove her car up onto my daughter's front lawn and then crashed into my 2006 Infiniti M35. She then proceeded to cross the street and run into the tennis courts fence and seemingly totaled her own car.

Now, on Aug. 1, I still have no car. It is in Houston, being worked on. The insurance company said it is "not quite totaled". I had to fly home and bought the ticket out of my own pocket. I will have to fly back up there to get the car, if and when it is ever finished. I just got a rent car 3 days ago. I have rec'd no money from the woman or insurance company at this point. My own insurance company is working on the claim.

I am angry. I would like to be compensated for my money for plane tickets, time without a car, repayment of money spent on the rental car. I assume the neighborhood management contacted the woman's insurance company to pay for tennis court repair and landscape repair. There is no way to ease my daughter's mind about someone driving onto their front lawn. If the woman had veered right instead of left, she would have hit the house.

Do I have any recourse for this situation? Thank you so much for any help you can give me.


Asked on 8/02/10, 3:59 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

You have a few options. First, do you have full coverage on your car? If so, call your own insurance company and let them handle it for you. You'll pay a deductible, which they can then attempt to collect from the drunk driver's policy. If not, you'll have to make a claim on the drunk driver's insurance and/or sue the drunk driver. She probably has a minimum limits policy, and if there's plenty of property damage, it may be first come, first served, so you'll have to hurry. You can hire an attorney to assist you. Because this is a property damage only claim, you'd likely need to pay an attorney by the hour to assist you with the case. Let me know if you need anything else.

Dave

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Answered on 8/07/10, 6:44 am


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