Background: I was in a car accident in Michigan on Jan. 28th 2k5.
The car was rendered undriveable and towed away with $5200 in damages.
The driver who hit me was determined to be at-fault, and most of my
medical and vehicle expenses are (or will be) covered. However, I did
not have rental car insurance. I know in most states if the
at-fault's insurance company will cover a rental car but I'm told that
Michigan is a "no-fault" state where if you do not have the coverage
on your own policy the at fault's insurer is not obligated to pay for
it. Additional research indicates that "mini-tort", a way to get some
expenses paid back in a case like mine, does not apply to car rental
expenses, only things like deductibles (not an issue with me).
So, my first question is, does that issue that I am unable to get
reimbursed by his insurance as a result of Michigan's policies
preclude me from suing this gentleman in small claims court?
Specifically, should I be able to recover my expenses from him
personally in this manner since I am apparently unable to do so
through the insurance companies, or does Michigan law make this
unfeasable? I am unable to find out if the other driver can be held
personally responsible for my rental car expenses above and beyond
what he is responsible for through his insurance.
2nd question: My was a 2005 model car bought about 5 months ago, has
12,5xx miles on it now. It was bought new for approx. 17K. The
$5,000 in damage includes some damage to the structure (rail) of the
car as well as a good chunk of the suspension. I believe that if I
wanted to sell the car that it has Diminished Value (DV). Now, I know
my insurance will not cover this as research I've seen says michigan
is one of the states where it is defined that simply repairing the car
satisfies insurance requirements, as opposed to in other states where
insurance will compensate you for the loss of value to the car because
of the accident. So my question is similar to the first one;
specifically, with such significant damage to such a new car, can I
hold the driver personally responsible for the DV to my car in small
claims court? Or does Michigan law make this impossible? If you
find that I should be able to take him to court for this, it would be
appreciated if you could tell me what documentation I might need to
make a good case. |
