Uninsured driver car accident

by Julie

A gentleman was involved in a accident which happened to involve my fence, and the neighboring fence (in which we rent out that space). So both fences were damaged in this accident.

We just received a letter stating that the driver did not have that car on his policy. So my question is, who do we go after for the damages to our fences?

The neighbor who rents from us in his trailer had a make shift fence up to keep his dogs in until we received the money from the gentlemans insurance company to fix it.

Last week their dog was killed because he got out of the makeshift fence. So now, we don't know who or what to do about all of this. This is in Ocean Park, Wa

Thank You,
Julie


Answer:

Hi Julie,

I am sorry for the delay, I had to look it up for Ocean Park.

Since the gentleman does no have insurance, he would be personally liable for the damages to your fence. The question is, how is he going to pay if he has no insurance?

Well, you have two options. You can go after him personally. You can do this either by filling a small claims ($4,000 limit) if the repair cost of the fence is less than that or you can get a lawyer and sue him for more (if the repair is more).

Or, you can file a claim against your homeowners insurance policy (or the landlords). They would pay for the repair to the fence (Subject to a deductible) and then go after the gentleman to collect or put him on payment plans.

It is hard because you to file a claim against your record and you still have a deductible. Small claims might be the best way to go.