Can I sue an uninsured motorist who rear ended me?

Mar 8

Almost two months ago I was rear ended by a girl who does not have insurance. I live in Illinois. My insurace agent has not been able to get in contact with ever since it happened. The damage to my car was quoted at $570. My deduct is $500, so my insurace company already gave me $70 and now I am waiting for the uninsured party to pay the $500. Can I take her to small claims? I’ve looked at her record online, and it’s not the cleanest thing I’ve seen. Everything was a traffice incident except two or three other incidents. I don’t understand why she can still drive. Any advice on what to do and how much I can get from her?

ended, motorist, rear, uninsured

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Comments

AH

March 8th, 2010 at 3:57 AM

If they do not have insurance I doubt they have much you can sue for. Some illegal immigrant crashed into my neighbor’s 66 mustang and totalled it. The guy was in the hospital for a week with 2 bones broken in his back.

The police took the guy who did it to jail but the victim doubts he will recover a single penny for this from the guy who hit him.
dodge man

March 8th, 2010 at 4:43 AM

yes you can sue her,and probably win the case also,first though some one will have to get in touch with her,but your due the money owed to you for what ever it takes to repair the car,and maybe other damages also,you might want to speak with an attorney about this they can better advise you of what all needs to be done on this,good luck with it.
RYAN

March 8th, 2010 at 5:36 AM

Your case certainly has merit and you should probably proceed with an action. With the facts you describe, you should win. Now that doesn’t mean you will get your money but a judgment will go on the other driver’s record and remain there. Small claims is simple and rather informal and easily done without an attorney. Consulting one is an option but you have the weigh the cost in doing so against the money your pursuing.
Another route you may have is to involve your city or states attorney office (depending on where the loss happened) and get this person cited for no insurance (if they weren’t already). You may have to be persistant here. In many cases, the courts may order restitution as part of the sentance. Not fulfilling this obligation to you could have that person wind up with a warrant and ultimately jail.
In most cases, these people are deadbeats and judgment proof. This stacks the odds against you ever seeing a dime but I certainly wish you luck. These have always frustrated me.
Mildred S

March 8th, 2010 at 5:44 AM

yes you could go to small claims court for sure. there is a filing fee / depends on your county how much. roughly 100.00 and you have to take off time to go to clerk to file the forms and then send a notice to the persons house to file an answer and you both appear in court. her previous record is not a factor in the case . but usually being rear ended , you will win. unless she claims some reason you stopped suddenly without cause / or were being reckless etc. this is hard to prove / but could happen / if she gets a lawyer. if you do win , you can get back your filing fee for the court costs plus the 500.00

the other issue is that even if you win , which i think you could, you have to go back to court to try to collect the money. if she is not working , has no assets then she will be pretty judgement proof. you can’t get money she doesn’t have. then you have to spend more time / money in court.

i personally hate court and taking vacation time off for this aggravation. for 500.00 I really wouldn’t deal with it. but you have to be the one to make the call.

sorry you went through this / it’s annoying.
PeppermintandPopcorn

March 8th, 2010 at 5:49 AM

First, check with your insurance company. A reliable company would be already starting the process to take her to court. If not, you can take her to small claims court.

Uninsured RX