What are my rights if I was involved in a hit and run and the other party was driving a company truck?

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What are my rights if I was involved in a hit and run and the other party was driving a company truck?

The police eventually caught him. I was not in the car at the time but a witness saw the whole thing. I think my car may be totaled. I use my car everyday to actually do my job not just get to work. What can I do so that I can continue working, can their insurance pay for a rental? Would it pay for lost wages?

Asked on July 24, 2014 under Accident Law, Hawaii

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 9 years ago | Contributor

Their insurance *may* pay for a rental, car repairs (or its value, if totalled), and lost wages, but remember--it's *their* insurance, not yours. They do not owe a duty to you; they owe it to their insured. That means that 1) they may choose to not pay at all, if they believe that you have a weak case for any reason, or that you will not sue; and 2) they will tend to off you as little as they think they can get away with. Their job is just to protect and pay for anything their insured owes, and they will try to do that as cheaply as possible.

Also, you can't force them to even accept or consider your claim, or the business to submit the claim to them. Therefore, while you can certainly start by trying to put in a claim to the other insurer, you may have to sue the other driver and the company (since it was a company truck; the owner of a vehicle is generally responsible for damage done by the vehicle, and an employer is often liable for damage done by its employees during work). You could sue them for all of your costs and loses directly and reasonably attributable to the accident, including the value of your car, the cost of a rental, and lost wages (to the extent there was no other way to get into work, including mass transit, etc.).


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