Do I sue Hertz?

[G50]

Maybe it’s different in different states (although probably not), but the registered owner of the car is always liable in California.

Hertz would be liable to you, pay you, you’d subrogante your claim to Hertz and they recover from the driver.

[ramonesfreak]

Originally Posted by Dixie

Think like a lawyer, sue everybody.

Your challenge is you're not injured, so lawyers aren't going to line up to take your case. That said, I suspect paying a lawyer to advise you, and having them fire off letters of intent to sue, would be a good start.

(I'm not an attorney so my advice is worth exactly what you paid me.)

Just so you know, suing everybody is not “thinking like a lawyer “ in the way I know you and others mean it. It’s 100% to avoid committing malpractice. If you miss a potential party and the statute of limitations runs you have committed malpractice

Anyway, if this were me…I actually represent ESIS, but regardless, this would not be worth my time given no injury and low dollars. You can take her to small claims court if it meets the dollar amount requirement but you’ll never collect that money. Been there done that.

And yes, if you’re not comfortable suing her pro se then good luck finding anyone that will handle this unless they need pro bono credit. My bill for just drafting the paperwork and filing fees would likely exceed the value of your claim. Bummer but most important is that you were not injured.

[jhynesrockmtn]

My State Farm agent has told me a few times, you don't need the rental car policy, you are covered as the driver through your normal car insurance.

[ramonesfreak]

Btw, regarding her saying she didn’t purchase the Hertz insurance I am quite sure that means she did not purchase insurance that would cover her in the event that she damages the Hertz rental car- and has nothing to do with Hertz’ liability as a result of her negligence that injures or damages someone else

I am nearly 100% sure Hertz is liable to pay you. Keep trying and following up with ESIS. I would also reach out to Hertz on a regular basis and provide the the police report

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

My State Farm agent has told me a few times, you don't need the rental car policy, you are covered as the driver through your normal car insurance.

I don't think her insurance was State Farm.

[unclebilly]

File a claim against them for $5k. They will pay.

[Rick Lee]

Definitely inflate the number and then settle for what you need.

[Zeke]

Since you don't have collision ins on the car your ins co will not pursue this on your behalf. Uninsured motorist coverage is mandatory in CA but does not cover under the circumstances.

What I would do is file in SCC with well documented paperwork especially the value of the car. Her insurance (if she was indeed insured in her state) must represent her if they are notified.

If she refuses to notify her insurance and does not appear, you win by default, but only what the established loss is plus actual court costs (nothing for your time). At that point I'd sell it to a bill collector. You will need the court's permission to do this. IDK if the SCC commissioner or judge can grant this. If you need to go to superior court for that it might not be worth it.

But if you manage to sell the settlement you might get 30 cents on the dollar. Is that worth your time? The actual benefit is that you will have put a nice dent in her credit rating. Explaining what you will do and what the results can be, might be persuasive enough to get her to cooperate.

As stated above, lawyers aren't interested in this nickel dime stuff. But if you can inflate the settlement to 5K you have a chance of getting a bill collector to go for it. They know the routine of domesticating the judgement in the defendant's state in order to establish collection.

The key is in having enough monetary damage and proof of loss. If you have no proof you won't get far. I don't need to go into details about proof. There are a lot of details left out, it's just forum talk.

[ramonesfreak]

She was driving a hertz rental car. Hertz and their carrier should be handling this. End of story

[Chocaholic]

The entire mess sounds like it’s not worth your time and aggravation. Move on. Life is short. If your CPA can claim a bit of loss all the better but we’re talking about well-used Ford Festiva money.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

The entire mess sounds like it’s not worth your time and aggravation. Move on. Life is short. If your CPA can claim a bit of loss all the better but we’re talking about well-used Ford Festiva money.

Agree. This does not meet the time, cost, aggravation test.

[Tobra]

If it were me, I could not let it go on principle. I don't owe Hertz anything. They would be paying me for my time, and their attorney to represent them. Whatever the max for small claims is, that is what you sue them for.

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

I’ve heard the same argument for people that drive without insurance and crash into people.

“They have insurance. if they didn’t, that scheisse is illegal”…

Those are individuals with no fiduciary responsibility to anyone.

That is not the case with a rental car company.

Illegal aliens never have insurance and never face any consequences. Do not get arrested, do not get their car seized, nothing. My wife went to court on a bogus speeding ticket. Her and a bunch of people that do not speak English. Judge did nothing to any of them.

[MBAtarga]

Is your neck bothering you from the accident yet? You should probably go see a doctor!

[zakthor]

Wait... why is hertz liable?

Isn't the lady liable and she can choose to have her insurance cover it?

Take lady to small claims court?

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by MBAtarga

Is your neck bothering you from the accident yet? You should probably go see a doctor!

My butt is beginning to hurt exactly three weeks after being nearly t-boned by a doc heading to work at 6:15 looking directly into the sun.... I was happy to get the check from Geico yesterday. They totaled the Highlander and the adjuster said ... $$... I asked for more ... way too low... they bumped it 5% ...

Send me the check! I'm not happy. Mom has been screwed over twice in three years... around $3K each time.

I was over it 20 daze ago... happy they even paid .... .

He didn't even see the light at 60 mph... no ticket

Move on....

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Agree. This does not meet the time, cost, aggravation test.

I am not finding the logic for pursuing a claim simply for the loss of a car that was to be donated anyway.

Personal injury, significant financial liability or some other loss would be a different story.

Even getting rid of the car doesn’t sound like a problem if there are already takers for it.

[ramonesfreak]

Exactly crow. When you decide to not purchase collision coverage you assume the risk of a mess like this. The only real option is to ask Hertz’ and their carrier to cover the loss. The risk there is, they can simply say nope, sue us. Why should Hertz just cave and accept the allegation that their driver was negligent? On one hand, they could reason that it’s a such a small amount of money that it’s best to pay and close the file to mitigate costs…..hopefully they do this. On the other hand, they know that such a small amount of money will make suing them cost prohibitive to the plaintiff.

[ramonesfreak]

and when dealing with the carrier, make sure to provide damage estimate along with police report

in most instances a carrier will much prefer to just cut a check for a claim this small and with the estimate showing that along with the police report which hopefully indicates their customer was likely negligent, I would guess they will pay to be done with this. but without these two documents, don’t bother wasting your time

[Tobra]

It will be far cheaper for Hertz to pay you than to pay their attorney to come fight you in small claims court

[pmax]