Two unknowns at this point in time. I have already filed the insurance claim, and am waiting to hear from them. As for the court, have not filed the suit yet, as it takes money which I can't spare out of this check.

Found out today from the fire investigator that they will NOT be filing charges because the kids are too young. The courts would never convict them and take them away from their parents. So, that pretty much ends it. They said the only option for me is to file a civil suit.

However, like Jag_Red says, it most likely will be a waste of money as I seriously doubt the parents have any money. Still I would love to get the judgement for revenge purposes. I mean it has been almost a full month now, and the parents of these kids have not contacted me once. Not to say they are sorry, or even to say they are broke and can't afford to pay for my property damage. Nothing.

 

Well, the insurance company has responded, and they are denying the claim. They state their policy does not cover motor vehicles. Interesting since they sent my neighbor a check for $3,500 when his Mustang was torched only 4 spaces away from mine.

 

Sound like the a formula for disaster. Juvienials allowed to burn stuff down without even going to court and getting there hands slapped??? What is our local government thinking of raising? A bunch of arsonist. Not good... not good at all.

 

So your truck did not have auto insurance? Or did it, and it wasn't covered in your policy?

You could always sue the parents in small claims court, but since they don't have
a pot to **** in, why bother?

Then again, why not. Might make you feel a little bit better.

Maybe ask the insurance company why the claim was denied, and mention the Mustang?

 

I think he said the truck wasn't in his name. Therefore, he would not have insurance on it. I guess it wasn't ever registered or insured in his name so that makes it that much harder to recover the money for the loss.

As long as, nighteyez has a signed bill of sale he can file a civil law suit (small claim). But, I think that is about the best he can do. If he gets a judgement and the family ever has any money and nighteyez can show that to the court they would have to pay him eventually.

I wouldn't expect any money for quite some time in this case. Unless the family fears INS.

 

The truck only had the minimum insurance required by the state, and that only covers the other guy and his vehicle if I should hit them. It does not cover my vehicle should it be burned down. I am going to send the renter's insurance company a letter asking them why they would cover my neighbor's Mustang, and not my truck. Both policies are the same, so there should be no difference in what is or is not paid out.

It is not worth it to me to take the parents to court, as all that would do is cost me even more money, with little or no hope of getting any back.

 

I guess bottom line; total loss.

And man, that just sucks.

 

Pretty much. I will get $106 from the junkyard, but that doesn't even begin to cover what I had put into it.

 

I'm now wondering how you could have insured it without the vehicle being in your name. Weird..... Or, maybe I didn't read it correctly:

"They will however, buy it from my neighbor, whose name it is in."

Hey for $20-40 you can still take them to small claims if you have a bill of sale. Who knows maybe they will pay something towards it or try to settle out of court as has happened in the past for me. A little pressure applied can help show them the light.

 

Sorry, Jim. It looks like you are going to take a loss. . . . .

I wish I was up to it as this is the sort of fight I enjoy and have never lost. You could win a court case and collect some money from someone. I do have to say that being right is seldom the reason you win - you have to cross every T and dot every I before the judge will even consider the merits of your case. Your best bet is that the amount of money involved is too small for your opponents to take the case serious and hire professional help - and if they do, the lawyer they hire is not going to be interested in doing his best.

I don't understand the insurance company - is it a blanket policy from one company the apartment complex requires you to take out? Is it individual companies every renter chooses for himself? Why did they pay on the Mustang? Did the Mustang have a comprehensive policy from another company that would have had to cover the loss if the renter's insurance did not?

How about the kids, had they caused problems in the past? Should the apartment complex have evicted them before they had a chance to fire your truck? Did the complex know or should they have known they were unsupervised?

You get the drift of the idea - sue everyone involved. All the defendants that survive will be jointly and severally liable - responsible as a group and as individuals - to pay the judgment. You get the entire judgment, and it is up to them to decide who pays what. But you get the money from one of them (deep pockets) and he has to collect from the others.

But you have to be very careful to prove every point with good documentation. You have to show you had the legal right to park there, that you in fact parked where the apartment complex directed you, that they had a standard of care which they violated. You will have to show the truck is yours, and it should be covered by the insurance policy. And the value of the truck when burned - everything!

 

Thanks all for your concerns. The truck was insured over the internet with Geico. However it was only the minimum required by the state, and did not included comprehensive or collision. The small claims fee is $50. and then I would have to pay a process server to server the papers. I have a year from the date of the fire to take them to court.

However, I doubt I will go through with it. The truck was not registered to me as I was still waiting for Wendell to smog it. I had the bill of sale but no registration. The complex requires everyone to have renter's insurance. You can choose your own company to insure with the one the complex deals with is Bader. Most residents insure with them.

I don't know why they paid my neighbor's claim for his Mustang, and not mine. The policy is the same. His policy states they will not pay for motor vehicles as does mine. Yet they did in his case.

The complex has a rule in the lease that all children must be supervised when outside. However, nobody enforces it. They don't enforce the "no RV parking" rule either, or the "no working on your vehicles" rule.

The Pick-n-Pull driver should be here tomorrow morning between 10:30am and 11 am. He is "supposedly" going to bring a check for $161. I say supposedly, because they say IF he picks it up he will leave the check with Wendell. He may decide it is too far gone, and not take it.

 

"They don't enforce the "no RV parking" rule either, or the "no working on your vehicles" rule. "

Sorry Jim, but these rules would make your case almost impossible to win.

However, just for the record, servers can be anyone not connected to the case - you can get one of your friends to serve the papers without charge.

But I agree - time to move on.

With my luck, I would have to pay someone to haul the carcass off!

 

Yeah it is a pretty hopeless picture, which is why I am just going to drop it and take the loss. I'll pick up another Ford again. If not my brothers, then one down here.

 

Good luck on your next vehicle.

 

I'm a vidictive *******, I'd file anyways.