Coming after me for car accident | Wrech in 1999

by Keri

My boyfriend and I were in a small auto collision in my car back in 1999. He was driving. The police were called and took all of our information.

At the time we did not have insurance on my vehicle. Recently, we both went to get our licenses updated with our new address information and found out there is a hold on his license from the other drivers insurance company stemming from the accident.

He contacted the insurance company who forwarded him to an attorney. The attorney stated we had to pay them in order to have the hold taken off of his license. The attorney stated we could either agree to four months of payments at $750.00 equaling $3000 or monthly payments of $150 but then we would have to pay a total of $12000.

This seemed really strange to us and we are wondering if this is legal. Also, what are the statue of limitations on something like this? And last, why did they not come after me since it was my car involved in the accident?

Thank you


Answer:


Hello Keri,

I am sorry to hear about that. A statute of limitation applies to a claim that can be initiated in a court of law. In other words, the statute of limitations simply limits the amount of time that you will be able to get a lawsuit started.

So, if legal action is not started before the statute of limitation starts, all rights are lost for the party entitled to payment.

You did not state whether there were injuries or not in the other vehicle. This affects the statute of limitation. Every state have different statutes, so check your state for "property damage" and for "personal injury" the personal injury usually is longer.

The accident happened on 1999, so it is likely that the statute of limitation expired, however, it is possible that they got a "lawsuit and judgment against you already. If this is the case, they can continue to "renew" the judgment and put it against your license until you pay for the damages.

Double check that this is the case or not. You need to know if there has been a judgment against you. If there is, all you can do is contact an attorney and try to negotiate a better deal. If the did not get a judgment, contact an attorney to see how you can get the matter of your driver license.

Why did they not come after you? Usually they go after the driver. The owner of the car is not negligent unless the driver was reckless when entrusting the vehicle to someone (you knew the driver was drunk and still gave him the keys). Sometimes they will not bother on going after the driver.

Good Luck,
http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/