Some mean loser hit me and run 🤬

[Hawker-SKO]

Hawker, sorry for long tips but you sound like you have not encountered these kinds of experiences. this is my first post here I can think of that I can share from my own experiences. in 46 + years driving. the bad guy / insurance doesn't give a F k what happened to your bus & won't buy you a replacement as this is what you want. is all about money & bad guy will not admit he's wrong guaranteed! I drove commercial / transit bus retired. again SMALLK CLAIMS COURT is the fastest way to get any money. I just collected $ 3500 from my old employer because they held my sick days for over one year, I have save from 26 years of driving city transit = $24,000 - I sue for interest & dividends because if they had pay me on time, i would have made $ that amount in my investment account long story short - so go for it!

Wow, thank you for the informations I truly appreciate that.

 

[Hawker-SKO]

Hawker, BTW don't trust insurance adjusters. they work for insurance co & will try to low ball or even screw you bad. in case they send you a check that are a low ball or you are not satisfied >>> DO NOT CASH <<< thinking you will sue to get the rest reimbursement. there is a secret bylaw. if you cash let say $ 500.00 check & damage is $1,000. thinking you cash it & sue the rest 50% = $500. in court fine prints or not it automictically means you ACCEPTED the insurance co offer. just take to small claim represent yourself - NO NEED to hire lawyer = it will not be worth it . lawyer $600 - 900 a hour!!! take it from me. done this way & won. the insurance co might even show up to represend the bad guy.

Wow Thank you for the great great informations came from your real life lessons. Yes , you are right. My life was a hunky dory until now and it was bought with my hard 8 years 365 days 7 days a week savings.... I'd keep your teachings in my heart and get my fair compensation for my vehicle. Thank you so much for this.

 

[Mason103]

Insurance.

Hawker, The small claims court is very easy DIY. is not like you see in Judge Judy & movies! all they want is.

1 ) did this ass hole hit you -you got proof = check
2) insurance wants to pay you $500?
3) you show damage estimates . must have 2 & take the lower of 2. check
4) judge will ask insurance to go settle or arbitration check
5) they either will try negotiate w/ you at that moment outside the room or take chance for judge or arbitration to decide. check
6) you will get something but stay firm w/ the estimates as close as possible. it might not be exactly up or down from your actual damage. you sometimes will take a slight lose because the bus is old & they not gonna consider bus as your living house/ RV. but is better than not getting or no money at all. good luck.

once they call you in court - you are in & out in less than 15 minutes most likely & will not return for another date, unlike regular courts where Stealing Lawyers will milk the systems for their $$$ pocket. small claim is to help the Small Guys like us - so not to worry. I won 5 - 6 times have not lost yet- a long as is legit. all states operate almost the same procedure.

 

[Hawker-SKO]

Hawker, The small claims court is very easy DIY. is not like you see in Judge Judy & movies! all they want is.

1 ) did this ass hole hit you -you got proof = check
2) insurance wants to pay you $500?
3) you show damage estimates . must have 2 & take the lower of 2. check
4) judge will ask insurance to go settle or arbitration check
5) they either will try negotiate w/ you at that moment outside the room or take chance for judge or arbitration to decide. check
6) you will get something but stay firm w/ the estimates as close as possible. it might not be exactly up or down from your actual damage. you sometimes will take a slight lose because the bus is old & they not gonna consider bus as your living house/ RV. but is better than not getting or no money at all. good luck.

once they call you in court - you are in & out in less than 15 minutes most likely & will not return for another date, unlike regular courts where Stealing Lawyers will milk the systems for their $$$ pocket. small claim is to help the Small Guys like us - so not to worry. I won 5 - 6 times have not lost yet- a long as is legit. all states operate almost the same procedure.

Thank you . Once I see the guy who frauded me with bad check at Snall claim court so I kniw how it is and I look at max limit on CA small claim court now is $12500 . So, I'll show 2 estimates with my bus sellers receipt on the bus too and I think I'll get winning chance. Plus the Adjuster is at Colorado so they might not even show up LoL hopefully.

 

[Mason103]

Ok, so you get the drift. but the insurance co has independent adjusters that works on any insurance co / don't have to be that particular one co adjusters. trust me insurance co
will have someone there if they have to. they have all down pack no matter what situations. insurance co's they have been in business hundreds of years / they know all angles & tricks.

 

[Hawker-SKO]

Ok, so you get the drift. but the insurance co has independent adjusters that works on any insurance co / don't have to be that particular one co adjusters. trust me insurance co
will have someone there if they have to. they have all down pack no matter what situations. insurance co's they have been in business hundreds of years / they know all angles & tricks.

Okay , so let's say the person who hit my car and his insurance lawyer gonna show up. I'd serve the envelope to the driver at fault only tho.so he has to contact with insurance company to bring out lawyers .LoL I'd be there with 2 body shop estimates and mechanics estimates . Plus I'll show the price of bill of sale of that bus from the seller & I'll show a same year bus for sale website on my phone to the judge .& I'll ask real Market price of that bus so Everything is so genuinely correct on my end . So there is nothing they can lie about it to not to pay .and if they dont then I'll be laughing this world is completely crazy. LoL lol plus now I'll get the salvage title on that bus.
& It wasn't . LoL and now I can't sell it with market price . I need to sell that bus after the movie gets shot and need to get rid of it .

 

[cadillackid]

be careful who you take to court...


so most states have minimum insurance requirements for liability per party and per accident...


need to find out if the $5000 is per accident or per person.. i dont know what the guy's policy reads.. you should be able to get a copy of it...



anyway if the insurance company pays out its max to the parties involved, they have fulfilled their obligation..


the man who hit the 2 cars has not fulfilled his obligation..


look back to one of my earlier responses.. if the at-fault driver causes $50,000 damage to the mercedes and your bus.. and his insurance pays $5000.. thats not a release of liability.. thats simply all the insurance gives you.. most regular people carry insurance high enough to cover their full liability in a crash, thus why you would sue the insurance company..


I carry 100/300 medical and 300 property damage... so in my case if I wreck out a guy's mercedes and someone's bus.. of course my insurance ocmpany would low-ball the damages.. esp on a totalled vehicle.. and it would stand to reason because likely much less than 300K was paid that my insurance company would be who gets sued... (they would probably sue me too because you always sue everyone..)..


small claims court is MUCH easier than a full lawsuit like mason answered.. ive been through both and small claims court where i live was just as mason described.. in and out.. most often only one side has really done their homework and they typically win.. you usually arent allowed to have an attorney in small claims court.. the idea being that its a smaller amount and designed for people to be able to represent themselves..


a full-on lawsuit is where you hire attorneys and sue everyone you can.. these are again like mason mentioned, dragged on with multiple apearances.. generally for larger amounts or cases that can get hairy...


your bus was parked, this driver was the obvious at fault who is what you would call under-insured, so he was licensed and legal.. so its not a criminal case.. its simply a case of needing to fulfill his property damage liability.. perfect small claims court case..


do your homework.. again the judges like to see people that have truly done their homework and seem to side with those individuals.. real numbers, real paperwork, pictures, etc... I find courts like paper.. so print everything you take out.. dont expect a judge to look at pics on your phone or an ipad..

 

[Hawker-SKO]

be careful who you take to court...


so most states have minimum insurance requirements for liability per party and per accident...


need to find out if the $5000 is per accident or per person.. i dont know what the guy's policy reads.. you should be able to get a copy of it...



anyway if the insurance company pays out its max to the parties involved, they have fulfilled their obligation..


the man who hit the 2 cars has not fulfilled his obligation..


look back to one of my earlier responses.. if the at-fault driver causes $50,000 damage to the mercedes and your bus.. and his insurance pays $5000.. thats not a release of liability.. thats simply all the insurance gives you.. most regular people carry insurance high enough to cover their full liability in a crash, thus why you would sue the insurance company..


I carry 100/300 medical and 300 property damage... so in my case if I wreck out a guy's mercedes and someone's bus.. of course my insurance ocmpany would low-ball the damages.. esp on a totalled vehicle.. and it would stand to reason because likely much less than 300K was paid that my insurance company would be who gets sued... (they would probably sue me too because you always sue everyone..)..


small claims court is MUCH easier than a full lawsuit like mason answered.. ive been through both and small claims court where i live was just as mason described.. in and out.. most often only one side has really done their homework and they typically win.. you usually arent allowed to have an attorney in small claims court.. the idea being that its a smaller amount and designed for people to be able to represent themselves..


a full-on lawsuit is where you hire attorneys and sue everyone you can.. these are again like mason mentioned, dragged on with multiple apearances.. generally for larger amounts or cases that can get hairy...


your bus was parked, this driver was the obvious at fault who is what you would call under-insured, so he was licensed and legal.. so its not a criminal case.. its simply a case of needing to fulfill his property damage liability.. perfect small claims court case..


do your homework.. again the judges like to see people that have truly done their homework and seem to side with those individuals.. real numbers, real paperwork, pictures, etc... I find courts like paper.. so print everything you take out.. dont expect a judge to look at pics on your phone or an ipad..

Thank you .
Yes, just this morning , Driver at fault insurance company adjuster agent send me his first email .
On this email The agent is mentioning clearly that insurance company understands that the their insured member is at fault . I mean ...my bus was uninsured on a street but duh -ah ? It was parked & it wasn't even moving so ... LoL
But the agent clearly mentions that there is could possible be a limits issue got this claim there. Yes, the bad guy hit 2 parked car & totalled . And as as you said earlier that limit and pay out doesn't mean the bad guy is on a loose of his obligations. insurance company pays out its max to the parties involved in this case 2 cars involved , they have fulfilled their obligation.as insurance company part.and as you said I won't cash that check till rest of the remaining cast of the damage get paid from the bad guy himself . This, yes , he the bad man who hit the 2 cars has still not fulfilled his obligation . And yes ,I need to chase the bad guy with small claim court .

 

[Hawker-SKO]

But , let's say I won the case ? Judge order him to pay the remaining amount to me . But he doesn't have any money ? LoL

 

[Albatross]

But , let's say I won the case ? Judge order him to pay the remaining amount to me . But he doesn't have any money ? LoL

In those cases you can generally get an award still, but might have to ask for structured settlement, which means that he'll have to pay it out over time. Other alternatives would be the ability to place a lien upon his property/estate, assuming that he has something. It works better if he consents, but if he doesn't then there is a legal process to be able to force it on them. But that is a very strict and narrow path that has to be followed, and it's still one of those things that can take years to be made "whole" again, and is beyond any other discussion here.

 

[Hawker-SKO]

In those cases you can generally get an award still, but might have to ask for structured settlement, which means that he'll have to pay it out over time. Other alternatives would be the ability to place a lien upon his property/estate, assuming that he has something. It works better if he consents, but if he doesn't then there is a legal process to be able to force it on them. But that is a very strict and narrow path that has to be followed, and it's still one of those things that can take years to be made "whole" again, and is beyond any other discussion here.

Just now another adjuster from USAA send me email that I have to share limited liability amount with 3 people ....LoL

 

[Hawker-SKO]

Just now another adjuster from USAA send me email that I have to share limited liability amount with 3 people ....LoL

Update :

Surprising to me but I must back it up all the bad things I said about USAA. They are really great insurance company.

Today they send me email that they are going to pay me $10,000 . Which is totally agreeable amount for the value of my totaled bus !! Thank you USAA !!

 

[Mason103]

Congratulations ! Great outcome. did you do or say anything to USAA for them to just say hey $ 10G's for you? LOL

 

[Hawker-SKO]

Congratulations ! Great outcome. did you do or say anything to USAA for them to just say hey $ 10G's for you? LOL

Well, I honestly told them the value of the car at market and how much I got it for . And also , they estimated the value of the car with mileages with other independent sources and it was estimated 14G . But they said that driver at fault insurance policy has a limit so they can't pay that much fully but 10G at this moment. Now they are asking whether I'm gonna keep the car or release it . I told them I would retain the car since I have bunch of stuff inside and can't move everything till I get new vehicle or the repair it completely.

 

[Mason103]

Good for you Hawker. consider yourself be very lucky to get this settlement! fix? or buy another one wisely. good luck happy holidays.

 

[Hawker-SKO]

Good for you Hawker. consider yourself be very lucky to get this settlement! fix? or buy another one wisely. good luck happy holidays.

Well, I just got news about the price the insurance company is willing to pay .
They said that my bus's market value is about $14G . The repair estimate is about $11G . Ins company is offering to me $10 G with release of vehicle to them . I have bunch of stuff stored in my car so I need to buy a new used car as replacement so I can transfer my stuff to new used car. So I don't know how this thing works out. Coz I can't buy new used car without getting paid from them . But they are asking me to release my totaled vehicle to them with $10 G check offer.

#1. I don't know this is low balling from insurance co or what.

#2 . How I can transfer my stuff into new car without getting paid first and actually obtain new used car ? I don't want my bunch of stuffs to be on a limbo situation .
Insurance company said that there is 2 other victims are there so total of 3 totalled vehicles involved that damaged by one reckless driver on his 1 insurance policy .
Insurance company says I need to sign that I accepted it's offer with in few days .
I kind a feeling being pressured to accept the offer .. what do you guys think ?

 

[cadillackid]

fantastic outcome to a bad situation.. when my old bluebird got damaged by fire in a shared garage i got a good insurance payout on that after I kept after them...

in my case I released the bus to them but too ka whole bunch of stuff off it first figuring id get a call that they wanted some money back but they never did..

 

[Mason103]

1) Transfer personal stuffs to temp storage 10X 10 should be enough? whatever in damage veh.
2 ) counter offer $ 12,000 - 12.5? hoping they - re - counter at @ $ 11,000 ? & take that - extra $1,000 to offset the payment on storage hoping a little left as you take your time searching next new used veh. TAKE your time while holding this money to search.

 

[Hawker-SKO]

1) Transfer personal stuffs to temp storage 10X 10 should be enough? whatever in damage veh.
2 ) counter offer $ 12,000 - 12.5? hoping they - re - counter at @ $ 11,000 ? & take that - extra $1,000 to offset the payment on storage hoping a little left as you take your time searching next new used veh. TAKE your time while holding this money to search.

That's good idea

I mean I need money for the new registration and new insurance as well too !!
That's gatta be paid ! Along with storage !

 

[Mason103]

Hawker, one thing to remember, whatever you take & cash their check automatically says you can't sue them for more money in the future. what happened to me in 1991 someone rear end my 65 Mustang - ins co. send me $500 & I cash it - then I sue them small claims court for more money - ins co told judge $500 was the settlement auto. but I had 2 estimates for more $ - Luckly judge on my side. counter off slightly more but not overly greedy / most likely ins co. will go in between is what I'm thinking. good luck let us know outcome.