Cheap lawyer or small claims for auto wreck property damage claim?

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

I was in a wreck recently. My insurance says it was his fault and his insurance says it was my fault, so we're going to end up in court. With no injury claim to milk, the total property damage is low enough (maybe $2-3k) that none of the attorneys that I've talked to are interested in the case. Can anyone recommend a lawyer who might be interested in it? Alternately, does anyone have advice on approaching the small claims process here armed only with the name, DL#, and insurance information for the other party? Should I be naming the insurance company as a defendant? Are there any other good sources of information on this subject before I dive in?    

Comments

[angerona.livejournal.com]

Not sure why you are going through court, as opposed to through your insurance. If your insurance says it's his fault, it's up to them to deal with the other insurance and get the money out of them (actually, pay you first, then deal with them).

I'd call your insurance again and speak with them and ask for whatever it is you want to get to be reimbursed for damage.

if your insurance changes their mind re: whose fault it is, appeal it to your insurance review board first, before going to court. You can do all that without a lawyer.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

My insurance is only going to get involved if he sues me/them. I only have liability, not collision coverage, so my insurance isn't involved in accidents that aren't my fault.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

(I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.)

One thing to consider is that whether or not you get stuck with "fault" for the accident will affect your insurance premiums for the next six years, which could cost you thousands of dollars in addition to any damage to your car.

If you decide to go it alone in small claims court, Nolo Press's (http://www.nolo.com) website should have some useful info on the small-claims process, either online or in dead-tree form that you can order. ISTR that folks I've known who've filed in small claims court in MA have told me that the various clerks and other folks who work for the court have generally been pretty helpful with information and assistance as far as what information you need to gather, what forms you need to file, and so on. They're not lawyers and can't advise you about your case, of course, but they're pretty helpful and informative about the actual process. They're very aware that the people they're dealing with are not lawyers and are often doing this for the first and only time.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reminder, I actually have an older edition of http://www.nolo.com/products/everybodys-guide-to-small-claims-court-nscc.html on my shelves somewhere. I'll go find it.

[incandes-flower.livejournal.com]

This may not apply, but if you work somewhere that has an Employee Assistance Plan, you may have some limited legal services available to you free of charge. It is usually just enough for a legal opinion, but they also refer out to services if you need them.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, when I went through small-claims court a few years back, what I learned (to my sorrow) was that even if you win, you aren't guaranteed to get your money back. Now this might be different if you end up suing an insurance company, but if you sue an individual, getting them to pay up can be a more complicated and costly proposition than the small-claims court process itself.

Here's how it went in my case:
a) Guy rips me off
b) I sue in small-claims court; guy doesn't show up to the hearing so I win by default
c) Guy doesn't pay up within 30 days so I bring him to court a second time; he shows up this time, claiming he has no money
d) Judge orders the guy to pay me a small amount each month until all paid up
e) Guy disappears, never pays me a penny. Now I'm out court costs in addition to the original amount he scammed me out of. (Technically, he is required to reimburse me my court costs, but what good does that do?)
f) I discover that the next step is for me to pay a court official to hunt the guy down and take him into custody...after which I still wouldn't necessarily get my money. So I cut my losses.

Additionally, remember that small-claims court is for claims under $2000 (unless they've changed that since I did it) so if your car repairs cost more than that, you wouldn't be doing SC anyway.

Good luck.