No Such Thing as “Just a Little Fender-Bender”
When the big old F-350 Ford hauler backed into Jody’s little Toyota, it was barely going three of four miles per hour. No one got hurt, and the driver immediately jumped out of the truck, apologizing like a madman, willingly giving his insurance information, sharing all his driver’s license information, and doing all the right things. Jody insisted, over and over, as she shared her information, “It’s no big deal. Really, it’s no big deal.” The dent did, after all, seem pretty harmless—deep and ugly, but the car was still perfectly drivable.
Only two little teeny-tiny facts complicated Jody’s case: First, although the dent seemed insignificant, because her beloved Toyota had what the man called a “unibody,” in order to fix the dent, the man would have to replace the entire rear panel. That one rear panel was worth more than the value of her whole car, so the insurance company wanted to declare a “total loss.”
“Think of it,” Jody told her friends. “Totaled at four miles per hour just by the way he bumped me.”
And then the second little detail arose. Yes, the friendly man in the truck had coverage with the Big Insurance Company, but it had expired just a few days before the total-loss bump, and the Big Insurance Company denied the claim. Now the friendly man with the F-350 didn’t seem quite so friendly or cooperative. Although Jody’s own uninsured motorist coverage would help her replace her car, she already had run-up expenses, missed work, and gone to the doctor just to make certain she didn’t have any soft-tissue damage. Who would pay for all that?
“Think of it,” Jody told her friends, “I have to try wringing money out of that big ol’ guy who totaled my beloved little Toyota.”
“Get an attorney!” Jody’s friends told her in chorus and unison. “A personal injury attorney will help you get all the damages you deserve—payment for all your costs and lost wages, payment to your doctors and the garage that stored your car. A good attorney even will win compensation for your pain, suffering, and emotional trauma—you did cry, didn’t you?” Jody’s friends made the case.
Even a tiny auto accident can swell out of proportion and become extremely costly. If you’re involved in an accident, always call the police first, then your insurance agent, and then an attorney. Protect your rights and recover your losses: Always call an attorney.
