Stoked! My old truck is getting fixed.

I was rear ended by a drunk driver. No insurance. It was a lengthy process getting all the accident documents from the DA office to my insurance company. In CA uninsured motorist coverage is very much abbreviated. It isn’t a lot of money. I was thinking I might have to sell it for pennies on the dollar, or donate it.
In the meantime I wrote a check for a 2023Tacoma. But my old truck is still special to me. the body shop just called. Damage was minimal and there is no frame damage.

It’s getting fixed! Not sure what I’ll do. Sell it, keep it. I’m happy my old truck isn’t going out to a scrapyard!

 

Pretty good ending, only thing better is if the person that hit you is never behind the wheel again.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you really saying that the "State Minimum Coverage" in California you are required to have "isn't a lot of money".

I had a long talk with all the guys that work for me just last week about this very issue. If you are only carrying "State Minimum Coverage" on your car, you are likely in for a rude awakening when you get in a wreck...and looking online it looks like Indiana's minimums are much higher than California's....so you are taking even more of a risk if you don't step up to reasonable amounts of coverage.

California requires $15,000 of liability coverage if you damage someone's property? 15K won't cover beans. So the other driver's uninsured/underinsured coverage picks up the difference, and then that company sends you a bill for it.

If California is different, then let me know, but around here, I can go to my insurance agent and pay a bit more and get coverage that is high enough to cover most contingencies. In Indiana, we are required to carry at least $25,000 liability for damage to someone else's property, if we are "at fault" in a crash. I'd say 1/3 vehicles on the road around here is worth more than 25K. God help you if you smack into a Mercedes, a motor home, a Tesla or the like....if you only have state minimum coverage. Raising it to reasonable levels costs between $100 and $200 more per year.

 

no. sorry, i wasnt clear. i am insured to the max, should i hit someone. it is the uninsured motorist part. it only covers me up to $3500 of damages to my vehicle if someone without insurance hits me. i think i am covered to the max coverage on my vehicles. back to the $3500. if the repairs exceed that, i am writing a check to the bodyshop out of pocket.

i think they put this $3500 cap to encourage people to stay with "full coverage" longer. i could be wrong, but i think i am correct.

 

From your states website:


"Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage is for accidents when the other driver is at fault and does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance.

• Bodily injury coverage pays medical expenses for you and passengers.
• Property damage coverage pays the cost of repairs to your car not covered by collision coverage up to $3,500. You may not need this if you have collision coverage.

You must be offered this coverage, but you can choose not to buy it."

The way this reads to me is, your uninsured motorist coverage is primary (if you elect to have it) and your collision insurance is secondary for an uninsured motorist. It reads like they were wanting to give people the ability to have minimum protection against the uninsured without having to pay up for collision coverage BUT if you do pay up for collision coverage your insurance will pay up to the limit of your coverage OR the amount of damage in a crash that was not your fault.

Bottom line....if you keep full coverage, you should be protected.

 

Keep both trucks. Mod the old one for hard core off roading and use the new one for daily driving.

 

Do you not have collision coverage? That covers your vehicle regardless of who is at fault for the damage.

 

Im hoping you didnt vote for soft on crime policies... otherwise you are reaping what you sew.

If you have the persons info. Sue them. Sue them into fuggin oblivion. Make the person at fault pay for this shit. I hate how uninsured illegal people get off so scott free in this state, then the rest of us law abiding tax paying, insurance paying citizens just get fucked.

You made a claim with your insurance. Your insurance will now go up.

/rant

 

Wtf? Drunks have been driving drunk for decades. I’ve been hit in Texas as well.

 

Exactly.

 

Apparently these drunks haven’t been driving for decades. Everyone knows you have to practice drunk driving in order to stay good at it.

 

Of course...that's why they run it that way...to dissuade people from seeking compensation...