Legal Question in Personal Injury in Texas

Who should I sue?
My husband was involved in a mva with an uninsured motorist. The car he was driving was registered to someone else. He stated at the time of the accident, the owner was also uninsured. We want to sue for damages not covered by our insurance to our vehicle and medical bills not covered by insurance. Our vehicle was demolished and our collision insurance did not pay off the loan value. My husband also required surgical repair of a broken hand. In all, we have around $7,000 out of pocket expense above what our insurances are paying. Should we sue the legal owner of the car or the driver? Would we be better off using a lawyer or going through small claims?

Asked on 2/24/06, 5:14 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Dan Street Street Law Firm

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Re: Who should I sue?

You have raised several issues and I will try to answer them in order. In general, you should sue both the owner of the car and the driver, although you would have to prove some kind of negligence (such as "negligent entrustment") on the part of the owner to be able to keep them in the lawsuit. However, if it is as you say (that neither the owner nor the driver was insured) you would usually be throwing away money to file suit against either of them since there is no insurance and you are unlikely to collect on a personal judgment. Your best course of action is to file on your own uninsured motorist policy for both your property damage and personal injury claim. As to the collision not paying off the loan value, no insurance policy is required to pay off your loan value, but only the "fair market value" of your vehicle (which is often lower than what you owe). As to whether you would be better off using a lawyer, as a general rule, a good personal injury lawyer can get for you more than you can get for yourself, even after deducting his or her fee. Plus, when you hire a lawyer, he or she does the work, and you can be assured that you got fair value for your case. After all, the insurance company is at a great advantage when negotiating with you by yourself because you really don't know what is a fair offer and what is not. (By the way, "small claims" court only allows up to $5,000 in damages.)

Answered on 2/24/06, 5:36 pm

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