o2bnme

First, no I wasn't in an accident. A friend's wife and their oldest son were though. :-( Airbags did their job... phew!

From the sound of it (including what witnesses said) it was the other guy who ran a red light. The police officer wrote it up as a "no fault" accident because there was no proof to the contrary.

So, first question is what can he/she do to get the other guy to pay for the accident? Do they have to go to court for that?

Second, if they get the accident to be labeled as the other guy's fault, can they get him to pay more than car value? Their vehicle is paid for and as a result they will not get the proper use of a "free" vehicle for a number of years. They will have to start with a new loan for the difference between totaled car's value and the purchase price of a new car. Otherwise, they will have to get a used car. Either way they will probably have to spend more than they will get from insurance.

Advise please? Thanks.

JustJeff

then let the insurance people go after the other insurance company.

Usually, in "no fault" insurance states, in an accident like this, your (their) insurance company pays for your (their) damages, then goes after the the other guys insurance to recover damages.

Find those witnesses! They will be crucial to your (their) insurance claims.

Rennen

That's good advice

smallTTs

it's possible that they can file a statement with police and a ticket will be issued. It has worked here in NY.

Usually insurance companies will negotiate as to % of blame for each driver. 100% is hard to get, but possible especially if ticket issued.

You can tell how much other ins. company paid by % of your deductible you get back. We had a case like this and got back 100%, which meant our ins. co. got 100% of the repair cost ($15000) from the other driver's ins. co. Our rates did NOT go up for this accident.

All of this in NY, a "no-fault" state.

o2bnme

I don't think NC is a no-fault state, but still the advise applies.

Thanks. :-)