car accident--need some advice

[megaladon6]

here's the story--i'm sitting in my room (house share) when one off my housemates calls me downstairs and says that someone just hit her car and mine. i go out and find that my front end is pretty well fubared, luckily just the P/S corner--bumper, grill, fender, but not the suspension, main structure etc. she says she saw a maroon car come up the road and hit the cars. police show up, we give him our statements, then he calls me outside. one piece of debris by my car (the 2 cars are seperated by at least 50ft with mine behind and uphill) matches her car and theres paint transfer on both cars--my black on her white and vice versa. there's also a piece of plastic that sure looks like mine in her bumper by the headlight. the cops say, and i wholly agree, that she hit my car then pulled into the driveway behind me (scrapping my rear bumper and leaving a piece of my front bumper in the driveway) turned around and parked in her usual spot. the police confronted her with this and she sticks by her story of the maroon car. as of now the police are filing charges against her for false statement etc.
the question is, what can i do? i don't have comprehensive ins, and while i should be able to make the car driveable i can't fix it due to money constraints. if she admits that she hit my car i can have her insurance take care of it, but if not... do i have to suck it up or do i have enough evidence to sue for damages (is that even worth it?) or can i contact her ins company with the police report (assuming it states her car did cause the damage)?
my car's only a '97 jetta TDI-worth maybe $3500 and the damage is at least $1000 probably $2k
and how much do i have to worry about the transmission? it's a manual and was in gear. the car was pushed at least 9in from where i parked.
thanks for the advice

and sorry for the rambling!

[Droolguy]

You don't have to worry about the tranny, the tires don't have nearly enough traction to come even close to causing damage from engine braking.

As for filing charges, if the police ruled in your favor you can have her insurance pay for it. Just give them a copy of the report. If they are still investigating it you will have to wait untill they finish.

[megaladon6]

for her insurance to cover it, do i have to simply prove it's her car that did it, or do i have to prove she was driving?
she says she was inside and a completely different car did all this-which is complete BS.

[78 Type-LT]

She was tickected..she is cooked..you have no woories

[mc84_zz4]

Take pics of the cars if you can, while the crash evidence is fresh.
Get a copy of the police report (prob $3-5 at the headquarters, once the report is complete)
Her insurance Co investigators can tell if she's lying about it ( if the police does not have mention on their police report.)

The insurance Co will issue you a check most probably, just get about 3 estimates for the repairs, their check will probably be shy of the middle one, that way you have a number they need to match before you sign any waivers.
Good luck.

[megaladon6]

they didn't ticket her, but they did say that they would file charges for filing a false statement (and maybe obstruction or interfering with an investigation?)
i guess the question is, what do i have to prove to her ins. company? one time a guy blatantly cut me off, the cop wrote him up for failure to yield and wrote it up as 100% the other guys fault. his company (allstate) kept arguing and refused payment. it took almost 2yrs to get my deductible back--luckily i had comprehensive at the time. but i can't wait 2 yrs to get reimbursed/covered.
and i can't have them just total it and probably give me 1/2 the value.
thanks

[megaladon6]

yeah i have lots o' pics! many have the cop car in them so i can prove time and place. i also have pics of her car to show the paint marks and missing pieces that are on mine.
god does this piss me off!

[68sixspeed]

Usually the police will have the report available within a week, at this point I'd contact her insurance whether or not the police have filed her for false statement, they should scare her into fessing up ok as hit-n-run is a lot worse than just her insurance going up. Keep in contact with the officer in charge of the case, and make sure he knows you need her insurance info as you don't have comprehensive. That may give them more reason to be active in pursuing her. It doesn't matter who was behind the wheel of the car, her insurance would cover it even if it was stolen. Cops don't like being lied to, so they should be going after her... -Dan

[funbnme]

Make sure you call the officer and confirm that they will be filing the charges they referenced.

You don't want them to just forget about it...that could wind up hurting your insurance claim.

Good luck.

[6'9"Witha69]

As a next step, make sure that whole living arrangement thing is looked into as well. If she'll do that to you, watch out, espaecially after all this goes down.

['70rs]

As a next step, make sure that whole living arrangement thing is looked into as well. If she'll do that to you, watch out, espaecially after all this goes down.

X2^^^ Watch out. It looks like you can not trust her. I would not want to live with someone I can't trust.

[megaladon6]

thanks for the help guys.
the officer has today/tomorrow off, so i'll stop by on wedensday or thursday for the report and an update.
this (along with other things) has pissed off my landlord and she mentioned to me that the woman may have to go--thank god!! but i will be locking my room and my tools, just in case.
so, anyone need a room in ridgefield ct? lol!

[mikey]

All I can say is the friggin nerve especially from a housemate.I mean I can see some douchebag that you don't know pulling this crap but......

[megaladon6]

hey some good news!!! she finally admitted to the cop (today) that she hit my car. he warned me that she wants "to work things out" and avoid going through the ins company. i don't think that's gonna happen, but i thought that maybe i'd offer to take $3000 cash--my 2 estimates are about $2250 and i figure it'll take 1-2 weeks so car rental would be $500. no, i'm NOT going to take a payment plan what do you think?
honestly i think i'd rather just have the ins company (progressive) pay for it, it seems easier and simpler to me, plus i think it covers my butt!
does the ins company have to cover a rental car?

[megaladon6]

oh, and she's supposedly leaving feb 1

[6'9"Witha69]

As soon as she's gone, so will your chances of getting your cash. If she has the full amount now, great. Take it and get it fixed. If she doesn't, submit your claim NOW. Remember, I don't know if this aopplies in your state, but failure to report an accident costinmg more than a certain $amount (1500 or so in Cali) you have like 15 days to report to the DMV before they put a hold on your license, suspend, etc. You may want to check on that.

[megaladon6]

i don't think that law quite applies here. there is a law about $1000--may be that you have to report it to the cops or the ins, but the DMV doesn't care. i know the ins company jacks the hell out of your rates if you don't report it, but that's about all i know.
i did report it to my company the same night it happened. so my a$$ is covered but i should have her info soon, either from her or the accident report.
if i take the cash, it'd have to be this week, maybe next. i'm definitely not going to trust her!!!

[WS6]

cash in hand now or report it to her ins company and get them to fix your car.

[megaladon6]

as a double check--if her ins values the damage as too high, they still have to pay me the value of the car, correct? and is it a % of book value?
i know it's that way if my ins was doing it but... and i think it's 75%?
FWIW it's a 97 vw jetta TDI--KBB gives me $3200 clean retail and NADA shows $4200. the damage is estimated at $2300+ and there's the car rental. (do they go by payout or just the damage?)
luckily she's supposed to be moving out this week, but she still wants to make payments:bsjerk: she keeps insisting that i can trust her! "why would i lie?" regardless, she refuses to give me her ins info, she doesn't realize that it's on the police report, and i think i can just call my ins with her name address and car info and they can find it right?
thanks again
nick

[justasquid]

The insurance company should be responsible for full replacement value, depending on what type of coverage she has. if your car is worth 3200, and her insurance only gives you 2500 and totals it, then she is personally responsible for the remainder of the amount. And.... I would sue her for everything you can. I can't stand it when deadbeat people like this get away with kind of stuff.

I believe most insurance companies will use KKB instead of NADA. Keep in mind, if you have anything above and beyond a normal car added to it, it can be worth more money in some cases. Such as engine mods, wheels and such. Most of the time not, but its worth meantioning.

The whole thing that would have me nervous is this: She has insurance to cover her when she screws up to protect herself from having to pay a large sum of money. Why on earth would she want to pay all of that money out of pocket? it would takes years for her raised insurance premiums to make up that amount of money. Thats the whole reason why I can almost guarantee she has no intention of paying you anything. Or, her insurance has expired and she is trying to avoid yet another charge.

In the next few days, you need to act relatively fast in deciding to file a small claims case or not. That may be your only recourse. Just make sure you do it in a timely manner. Also, if thats what comes down to. keep reciepts for every expense you encur due to her bad driving. taking a bus, paying friends for gas driving you around... anything. Even if you can spend a few hundred and get your car drivable in the mean time, keep track of everything.

And burn this women. she obviously has no respect for anyone or anything.