i just bought a car and a month later i got hit by an uninsured motorist. I do not coverage for that. Now no lawyer wants to take my case. (im in florida). what can i do to this person and make sure i get my lost money from the uninsured motorist?
I will start with the obvious and with, that NO lawyer will take a case they can't get paid. In any auto accident, lawyers don't give a hoot about car damages, but only injuries. Next time look at those billboards or the TV advertisements, they don't talk about your car damages, only (if) you have been injured call Lawyer X.
The only money is in injuries, (you know) the term "Pain and Suffering".
But in FL, all that is required by law is PD and PIP. Fl is one of the few states that does NOT require (BI) bodily injury, (the pain/suffering). So, they also have a law that if in an accident and have an injury, that the lawyer can request the insurance company to provide a declaration page that shows if the at fault has BI or not. And if no BI, then guess what the lawyer is not interested, since once again gets no money.
Sounds like you did not purchase collision to fix your car, so your insurance does nothing. And since you did not purchase UMPD (uninsured Motorist Property Damage), once again your insurance does nothing.
So, your only option is to sue the uninsured driver in small court which you don't need a lawyer and most likely win, but the odds of collecting a dime from them is (zero). The court will award a judgment, but it does not collect for you.
Get the picture? That is why you buy more than the minimum required by law, since your insurance company deals with the headaches not you.
In most cases, you cannot make sure you get your money from the uninsured motorist. You cannot get money from someone who doesn't have money, and most uninsured motorists don't have money.
You can sue the person on your own, if you wish. If you do, then one of three things will happen:
a) You could lose. If you lose, then you cannot get any money.
b) You win, but the person doesn't have any money, so you will not be able to get any money
c) (the least the likely of the three) you win and the person has money, so then you can start trying to get the money (but you still might not be very successful)
You probably won't get any money. You can sue the owner of the other vehicle in court and you'll probably win, but that's no guarantee that you'll be paid. That's why no lawyer will take your case. No matter what their ads say, lawyers are only interested in cases that will get them paid for their time.
People who drive without insurance usually don't have thousands kicking around in their bank accounts, and that's just a cold hard fact. You elected not to buy coverage against vehicle damage by an uninsured motorist, so you effectively said "I'll cover that myself if it happens" and signed your name under it.
You are on your own if you didn't have proper insurance and lawyers don't want your case.
You can start with Small Claims Court, assuming the amount you want doesn't exceed the maximum. You won't need a lawyer but you must have lots of proof of fault, cost of damages, and photographs. You might get lucky and get a judgement against the other driver, but that doesn't mean you'll actually collect, especially if the other party didn't have enough money to buy proper insurance.
You don't. You file with your own insurance under the uninsured/under insurance clause of your insurance that you opted for when you got insurance. You will have to pay any deductible amount, but insurance will attempt to get their money and yours back from the at fault person.
If you didn't opt for that coverage there is really little you can do. You can file in small claims and probably win, but that just gives you the right to try and collect, and those without insurance have little in the way of assets to pay off a debt.
You had a choice, a decision, when you chose your vehicle insure coverage types. You, for whatever reason, chose your coverage not to include under-insured/uninsured motorist coverage. That is the choice you have to live with. If you cannot find legal counsel to take your case your only choice now would be to take them to small claims court and represent yourself.
You could do what the lawyer would do - sue them for the damage to your car. But most people who are uninsured are what we call "judgment proof." They have no money, no assets to take and sell, and so little income that even when you win your case, you have no way of actually getting anything out of them. Sorry for the bad news, but you are pretty much screwed.
You can sue all by yourself with no lawyer, in small claims court. When you win your case you will then have the right to try to collect the money from that person. You will discover that he or she has no money.
How do I know? I won one of those cases. I now own the right to collect $4000 from someone who has vanished. I've not seen or heard anything about him in over ten years.
You can sell an uncollected judgment. I could probably sell mine for $40. One percent. Not worth thinking about it.
Florida is a no-fault state, which means that you should have your own insurance to cover damage to your vehicle (unless the cost is not worth it for an older vehicle) and PIP to cover minor injuries. I don't know how all that works, but maybe you cannot sue unless you had a major medical claim
I will start with the obvious and with, that NO lawyer will take a case they can't get paid. In any auto accident, lawyers don't give a hoot about car damages, but only injuries. Next time look at those billboards or the TV advertisements, they don't talk about your car damages, only (if) you have been injured call Lawyer X.
The only money is in injuries, (you know) the term "Pain and Suffering".
But in FL, all that is required by law is PD and PIP. Fl is one of the few states that does NOT require (BI) bodily injury, (the pain/suffering). So, they also have a law that if in an accident and have an injury, that the lawyer can request the insurance company to provide a declaration page that shows if the at fault has BI or not. And if no BI, then guess what the lawyer is not interested, since once again gets no money.
Sounds like you did not purchase collision to fix your car, so your insurance does nothing. And since you did not purchase UMPD (uninsured Motorist Property Damage), once again your insurance does nothing.
So, your only option is to sue the uninsured driver in small court which you don't need a lawyer and most likely win, but the odds of collecting a dime from them is (zero). The court will award a judgment, but it does not collect for you.
Get the picture? That is why you buy more than the minimum required by law, since your insurance company deals with the headaches not you.
In most cases, you cannot make sure you get your money from the uninsured motorist. You cannot get money from someone who doesn't have money, and most uninsured motorists don't have money.
You can sue the person on your own, if you wish. If you do, then one of three things will happen:
a) You could lose. If you lose, then you cannot get any money.
b) You win, but the person doesn't have any money, so you will not be able to get any money
c) (the least the likely of the three) you win and the person has money, so then you can start trying to get the money (but you still might not be very successful)
You probably won't get any money. You can sue the owner of the other vehicle in court and you'll probably win, but that's no guarantee that you'll be paid. That's why no lawyer will take your case. No matter what their ads say, lawyers are only interested in cases that will get them paid for their time.
People who drive without insurance usually don't have thousands kicking around in their bank accounts, and that's just a cold hard fact. You elected not to buy coverage against vehicle damage by an uninsured motorist, so you effectively said "I'll cover that myself if it happens" and signed your name under it.
You are on your own if you didn't have proper insurance and lawyers don't want your case.
You can start with Small Claims Court, assuming the amount you want doesn't exceed the maximum. You won't need a lawyer but you must have lots of proof of fault, cost of damages, and photographs. You might get lucky and get a judgement against the other driver, but that doesn't mean you'll actually collect, especially if the other party didn't have enough money to buy proper insurance.
You don't. You file with your own insurance under the uninsured/under insurance clause of your insurance that you opted for when you got insurance. You will have to pay any deductible amount, but insurance will attempt to get their money and yours back from the at fault person.
If you didn't opt for that coverage there is really little you can do. You can file in small claims and probably win, but that just gives you the right to try and collect, and those without insurance have little in the way of assets to pay off a debt.
You had a choice, a decision, when you chose your vehicle insure coverage types. You, for whatever reason, chose your coverage not to include under-insured/uninsured motorist coverage. That is the choice you have to live with. If you cannot find legal counsel to take your case your only choice now would be to take them to small claims court and represent yourself.
You could do what the lawyer would do - sue them for the damage to your car. But most people who are uninsured are what we call "judgment proof." They have no money, no assets to take and sell, and so little income that even when you win your case, you have no way of actually getting anything out of them. Sorry for the bad news, but you are pretty much screwed.
You can sue all by yourself with no lawyer, in small claims court. When you win your case you will then have the right to try to collect the money from that person. You will discover that he or she has no money.
How do I know? I won one of those cases. I now own the right to collect $4000 from someone who has vanished. I've not seen or heard anything about him in over ten years.
You can sell an uncollected judgment. I could probably sell mine for $40. One percent. Not worth thinking about it.
Florida is a no-fault state, which means that you should have your own insurance to cover damage to your vehicle (unless the cost is not worth it for an older vehicle) and PIP to cover minor injuries. I don't know how all that works, but maybe you cannot sue unless you had a major medical claim