My car was parked near a building that burned down. In fact, my car was the closest to the fire that was not incinerated. (DRAT! it was a crappy 1984 Ford Mustang POS)
Anyhow, later that day, I saw an insurance adjuster looking over the smoldering and waterlogged debris and I went out and asked about my melted taillights and bumper cover.
He pointed out my comprehensive coverage would take care of the damage, as pointed out above. He did indicate if the fire was arson, I might have cause to sue the responsible party for the deductible. And then he chuckled and told me not to get my hopes up about that.
And he was correct, my auto policy took care of the damage, less the deductible.
Additionally, he told me of an airplane hangar at our local airport that had been destroyed by a tornado. The debris had damaged many cars, and in that case too, the comprehensive coverage took care of the problems.
In the fire that damaged my car, the cause was undetermined. If it was arson, the MO was unlike other suspicious fires in town (no accelerant). The possibility of careless use of smoking materials was strongly suspected, but due to the devastating effects of the fire, could not be proven. The building was occupied, if it was arson, the arsonist came extremely close to murdering 3 people. If it was careless smoking, it most likely was one of the occupants that was responsible.
(the fire started near a pile of flattened cardboard boxes at the base of a the back stairs. The smoker in the building may have inadvertently flicked his cigarette onto the pile when he arrived home. The building was on fire 45 minutes later, and took 3 hours for the fire department to extinguish)
Something else to check on. My agent always checks two ways for me after I’ve paid off a car.
One is for liability-only insurance, for a decent amount (more than the minimum, anyway).
The other is to continue my comprehensive coverage with a very high deductible.
Usually the comp/hi-ded is cheaper and provides more coverage.
I’ve often carried policies with a deductible higher than the value of my car (which means it’s basically liability coverage for me, since they won’t pay on my car). But it included much higher medical liability levels, roadside assistance, rental car, etc.
It’s one advantage of working through a good agent rather than one of the super-cheapo online companies.
Check with another lawyer, if necessary several. “Of course we contacted a lawyer but no attorney will touch it because there wasn’t any bodily injuries, therefore they won’t stand to make their multi-million off of the ins. co.” to me3 smacks of one lawyer not wanting to be bothered with a small-potatoes (to him) suit. Most reputable lawyers will offer some degree of help, for a fee, unless they are convinced your suit is completely groundless (“I want to sue my neighbor because he refuses to let me cut down the shade tree in his yard which interferes with my satellite dish’s reception.”) He might for example agree to seek a settlement short of trial for fee X, with the clear understanding it will cost more if that doesn’t work and it has to go to trial or be dropped entirely,
Remember that the insurance company is not liable; Melvil DUI Jr. is the person at fault. Now he may have few or no assets, making a direct suit of him pointless. I think that if he’s under 18, most jurisdictions attach some liability to his parents for his actions – a possible avenue to getting a settlement if he was under 18 and that’s the law in your state. And you can proceed pro se (acting for yourself without an attorney) if in fact no lawyer will take the case.
A letter to his insurance company – the one denying any responsibility – suggesting that your state permitted Melvil to drive on the basis of their representation that he indeed had liability insurance, which they were happy to do in exchange for his premiums. If they are in the habit of defrauding innocent third parties to avoid paying claims on po0licies they sell for reasons unrelated to the third parties’ actions, then perhaps the Insurance Commissioner of your state might want to take an interest in reviewing their eiigiblity to sell insurance in that state. Load this letter with detail – his insurance policy number, his name and address, the full circumstances of the accident, police report if available, their letter denying payment – and copy it, with attachments, to your State Insurance office and your State Attorney General’s office, frauds division. This is elevating the stakes considerably but worth considering as a last resort.
I am not a lawyer, but my guess is that the attorneys were uninterested in the case on a contingency fee basis. But surely a competent attorney would be helpful if you paid him by the hour.
Re: Uninsured driver damages your car. (Or insurance company refuses to pay.) You can sue the driver yourself in small claims court. We did this several years ago. Although the driver didn’t have any assets to collect from after we got the judgment, in California you can have their driver’s license suspended until they pay up. After doing this, her mother paid the damages so her daughter could get her license back.
Re: Getting full reimbursement for a totaled car. This happened to me last November. The insurance company’s offer was close to the Bluebook value. They are also required to show you comparable ads for similar cars, which they did for me. They are also required to pay sales tax and a pro-rated registration fee to reimburse me for the yearly fee I had paid but could not now use (which they did). Although, from a legal standpoint, it was fair, I wasn’t put back to where I was before the collision.