Car accident/no insurance/no drivers license

[k0023]

Hi all,
I was involved in an accident last month, parked car, no insurance, and no license at the time. Sherrifs arrived and assisted the whole situation. I got a ticket with two violations which were no drivers license and no insurance. The very next day i went to take care of my tickets and got one dismissed for getting my drivers license that same day and got on a payment plan to pay off court fees and the actual ticket on no insurance. The owner of the car I hit didn't go turn in the paper work they needed in order to proceed with what to do about the car. Owner said it was totaled (I hit drivers side rear end, completely smashed in) and said he wouldn't take it to court to settle but to pay him the $1,500 he paid for the car, I was in the process of moving and said he would give me two months to get him the money. He's hasn't proven that he paid the amount he's asking for. Do I pay him the $1,500, take it to court, go by the blue book, or keep asking for proof? This is where I'm not sure on what to do.

 

[FlaRiptide]

$1,500 is a minor amount to pay considering you are at fault with no license or insurance. You do NOT want him to sue you. I doubt you would find a blue book value on a car that was only worth $1,500. Even if in your opinion the car was worth only $1,000, it is your word against his. Don't piss him off because of $500!!

Pay the $1,500 and get insurance before you drive again. If you don't next time you could smash into a BMW or Mercedes.

You may negotiate with him. Buy his wrecked car for the $1,500 and then sell it for scrap. You may be able to recover a couple of hundred.

 

[mightymoose]

$1500 is well worth it.
Your options are to either pay for the damages, which may be a lot more than $1500, or to pay the value of the car, which could be less than $1500, but not much.
You are getting a reasonable offer. If you force him to take you to court you could be ordered to pay more than $1500 depending how the court values the car and then court costs on top of that.

The suggestion above is a very good one... if you purchase the car from him and have him sign over the title, you can haul it off to a junk yard and recover some of your loss. You might even be able to salvage usable parts and sell them individually.