Help! I need some advice!

[Secondary_Chaos]

To anyone who can help me out with a little matter I like to refer to as "debt collection":

I was involved in an accident a few years back in someone else's car. The owner of the car made a claim on their insurance and in return they recieved the check for their car. Six months later, I recieve a letter from State Farm (who both of us have) saying that I owe some 15k and need to come to payment arrangements with them. I went back and forth with the debt collector and finally told them I would see them in court. That was back in November. I have just recieved another letter in the mail from another collection agency for the same account. I have a few questions on this because of the way somethings went down. Seems kind of sketch to me, but I want advice before I take any further action. Please PM me if you can help out in any way! Thanks!

[GSPODS]

I sent you a PM. I'll know soon enough if you received it.

[KazooSkinsFan]

To anyone who can help me out with a little matter I like to refer to as "debt collection":

I was involved in an accident a few years back in someone else's car. The owner of the car made a claim on their insurance and in return they recieved the check for their car. Six months later, I recieve a letter from State Farm (who both of us have) saying that I owe some 15k and need to come to payment arrangements with them. I went back and forth with the debt collector and finally told them I would see them in court. That was back in November. I have just recieved another letter in the mail from another collection agency for the same account. I have a few questions on this because of the way somethings went down. Seems kind of sketch to me, but I want advice before I take any further action. Please PM me if you can help out in any way! Thanks!

I can't give you a complete answer, but I do have a couple thoughts.

- This may be as simple as talking to State Farm and explaining that you are insured by them and your friend is and ask THEM what policy the claim should be paid under, not what company is responsible. I would guess they are conveniently ignoring who's policy they should be paying it under and going after you under those terms.

- A great site is www.clarkhoward.com, they have all sorts of help for stuff like this.

- I do know for collection companies that you must generally respond in 30 days, be sure to do that and say you are not responsible for the debt. Also you can send them a "drop dead" letter instructing them never to contact you again, see the Clark Howard site for that. But that doesn't mean it can't go on your credit report, so be sure to follow up.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

[GSPODS]

Ordinarily, in "No Fault" states, which most are now, the insurance companies would have an arbitrator settle the claim between the insurance companies.

Since this is a self-insurance claim by the registered owner of the vehicle, the first question is:

Did the owner of the vehicle claim the vehicle was stolen and did they file a police report? I know you were driving but if they did not claim the vehicle was stolen, that is an admission in most courts of law that they allowed you to use the vehicle. It seems safe to assume that quite an amount of time passed between the time the vehicle was involved in the accident and the time you were contacted by the insurance company. Without a police report of the vehicle having been stolen by you, the insurance company and your former friend have no legal claim.

PM me back and I'll answer any questions. I may also know a local attorney in your area who would give you a free consultation.

[Secondary_Chaos]

Ordinarily, in "No Fault" states, which most are now, the insurance companies would have an arbitrator settle the claim between the insurance companies.

Since this is a self-insurance claim by the registered owner of the vehicle, the first question is:

Did the owner of the vehicle claim the vehicle was stolen and did they file a police report? I know you were driving but if they did not claim the vehicle was stolen, that is an admission in most courts of law that they allowed you to use the vehicle. It seems safe to assume that quite an amount of time passed between the time the vehicle was involved in the accident and the time you were contacted by the insurance company. Without a police report of the vehicle having been stolen by you, the insurance company and your former friend have no legal claim.

PM me back and I'll answer any questions. I may also know a local attorney in your area who would give you a free consultation.

No police report was filed. I spoke to my state farm agent and he said it sounds like State Farm is trying to get me to cover the costs so they don't lose out. They said that since they have determined that, in their eyes, i was not a "permissive user" that i have to pay the claim amount. I didnt hear anything from SF for SIX MONTHS about this, then all of a sudden i get a letter saying that i need to come to payment arrangements to pay this off. Ironically a week later i got a letter saying my insurance was going to be canceled because of a previous accident. (i now have TWO on my record) I got that taken care of. Sporadically since, i have gotten letters and calls about this. I dont see how I owe any money to anyone for this since the claim was filed and no police report was filed. Seem sketchy to you?

[GSPODS]

Ordinarily, in "No Fault" states, which most are now, the insurance companies would have an arbitrator settle the claim between the insurance companies.

Since this is a self-insurance claim by the registered owner of the vehicle, the first question is:

Did the owner of the vehicle claim the vehicle was stolen and did they file a police report? I know you were driving but if they did not claim the vehicle was stolen, that is an admission in most courts of law that they allowed you to use the vehicle. It seems safe to assume that quite an amount of time passed between the time the vehicle was involved in the accident and the time you were contacted by the insurance company. Without a police report of the vehicle having been stolen by you, the insurance company and your former friend have no legal claim.

PM me back and I'll answer any questions. I may also know a local attorney in your area who would give you a free consultation.

No police report was filed. I spoke to my state farm agent and he said it sounds like State Farm is trying to get me to cover the costs so they don't lose out. They said that since they have determined that, in their eyes, i was not a "permissive user" that i have to pay the claim amount. I didnt hear anything from SF for SIX MONTHS about this, then all of a sudden i get a letter saying that i need to come to payment arrangements to pay this off. Ironically a week later i got a letter saying my insurance was going to be canceled because of a previous accident. (i now have TWO on my record) I got that taken care of. Sporadically since, i have gotten letters and calls about this. I dont see how I owe any money to anyone for this since the claim was filed and no police report was filed. Seem sketchy to you?

Yes, it seems sketchy because without proof you had no permission to drive the vehicle in the form of a police report of the vehicle being stolen, the insurance company has no legal grounds to collect from you.

If I allow you to use my vehicle and you total it, my insurance company is going to receive the claim. My insurance company is going to charge me the deductible and my rates are going to go up. This is not the same as the other driver's insurance company filing a claim, which they would only do if the arbitration between the two insurance companies failed to pay their claim.

I sent another PM. Hopefully, you received this one.

[VetSkinsFan]

And people say ALL lawyers are bad.... GOOD JOB GSPODS!!!

[GSPODS]

And people say ALL lawyers are bad.... GOOD JOB GSPODS!!!

Ambulance Chasers and Bankruptcy Hounds give the entire profession a bad reputation. Not all lawyers are shysters. Some of us are other things which cannot be described in the Lounge.

Hell, most of us hate each other. That is until we need a good lawyer.