Rollover on rental car without insurance

by Guest » Tue Apr 10, 2012 01:44 am
Guest

Last February I had a car accident in a rental car from Hertz, no one else was involved, what happened is that I heard a strange noise coming from the front left tire, I got scared and lost control of the vehicle. The car went to the middle part of the highway and rolled over a couple of times. Luckily I was not injured but the car was in bad condition.
The rental was made in Oklahoma, but the accident was in Texas (I-45).
I know it is wrong but I did not have any kind of insurance, neither from Hertz nor from any other insurance company.
I made the accident report with Hertz the day the incident occurred and sent it via Fax. I did not hear from them until last week when they sent me a letter saying that I have the right to go inspect and take pictures of the vehicle which is currently in Dallas.
I am not an American citizen and currently I am a student, I do not work or even have a social security number. I will graduate this summer and would probably leave the country.
My questions are:
•Should I go and do the inspection of the car myself or hire someone else to do it for me?
•Should I contact Hertz in any way or that will be bad for me in the sense that it will mean that I am assuming responsibility for the accident?
•What do you think I should do? Do you think I need to seek legal help?
Thank you very much for your time and advice.

Total Comments: 7

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:18 pm Post Subject: Rental car without insurance

You’ll need to find out about the damages. So, it is advisable to take a professional along with you when you go for inspection.

Hertz needs to be informed about the accident, since it was their car you were driving.
Merely contacting them will not prove you guilty.

Professionals, who are updated about the legal implications, will be able to guide you better in this situation. Find out about the insurance related laws, since your vehicle was not insured at the time of the accident.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:39 pm Post Subject:

They are giving you the opportunity to inspect the vehicle as required because they are going to be seeking recovery for the damage to the vehicle... which is almost certainly going to be the value of the vehicle. If they did not give you the opportunity you could state this in court and it's called spoliation of evidence.

Are you going to pay the $20,000 or $30,000? Are you going to dispute that you owe the value of the vehicle? If not, then I see little point in inspecting the damages.

Your contract with Hertz states that you are responsible for any damage that occurs to the vehicle. It's kind of "difficult" to get out of owing them for this damage (i.e. next to impossible).

I'm guessing what is going to happen is that they are going to send you a bill for around $20,000 - $30,000 and you are going to ignore it. They will turn it over to a collection company that will file suit against you. You won't show up and they will obtain a default judgement against you. If you stay in the US they will attempt to collect from you using that judgement. If you leave the country then you should not be affected.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 03:01 pm Post Subject:

First of all thanks for the reply to both of you.

As I am a student who is not working I can't afford to pay for the car. I talked to a lawyer and he said that it is very unlikely that they will file a lawsuit against me because it will be very difficult to recover the money because I don't have any assets, and it will be more expensive for them to try to do it. He said that this will be the case if this situation is handled in Texas (where the accident happened and where the car is now), but he is not sure in which State will this be because the car was rented in Oklahoma.

It is not for sure that I will leave the country cause I have a couple of job offers here, but I am very hessitant of taking them because of this problem. I've heard that because it is a civil case it will not affect me in that sense. But I'm still worried.

Thanks for your time and help.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 04:24 pm Post Subject:

Who was this attorney that he/she does not know what state they will file in? The contract is what obligates payment. The contract was entered into in OK. They would file there.

Id say chances are _very_ good that a collection company will file suit for the value of the vehicle. Its worth it to them. Some employers will check for judgements, esp. if its a job where you address money. They may also report the debt to credit agencies (which can incease many expenses). Want to buy a home in the states? The judgement is really going to hurt your changes or if nothing else, increase your interest rate. The collection company knows all of this and is why they will file suit. It wouls cost them about $150 to file, $100 to serve you and about 10 mins in court to obtain a default judgement.

Usually rental places have you secure the vehicle with a deposit or credit card. If you used a credit card they may try to charge it for the damages.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 04:51 pm Post Subject:

I used a debit card to rent the car. I barely have any money there and the balance has never been more that $1000 dls. I will graduate soon and leave the town where I am living.

I dont have a job or any assets, I dont even have a social security number, so I dont see how they can recover the money from me cause even though I want to pay them I cant.

I have some job offers here in US but nothing concrete.

How long do you think it will take for them to file a suit against me? The car is still at the Hertz maintenance facility at Dallas.

They sent me a letter saying that I have until the end of this week to go inspect the car, but I dont know if I should do it or not.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 07:24 pm Post Subject:

You can go inspect the car or not. It does not change the fact that you rented a car, drove the car, and promised through your signature on the rental contract to be responsible for 100% of the value of the vehicle -- damaged or stolen. You could have avoided all of this at the cost of about $30-$40 per day of your rental period.

The fact that you have no personal auto insurance is proof that you should not be driving on any American highway. What would you be asking us if you killed someone else?

I dont even have a social security number, so I dont see how they can recover the money from me


You may not have a SSN, but you have a TIN. How do I know that?

I used a debit card to rent the car


Can't get one from a bank without it.

Unless you have one of those rental debit cards. Put a few bucks on it and it works until the money is used up.

Why are you here? Are you even here legally? Just because you have no SSN is no reason for you not to be sued.

If you fail to pay whatever they claim you owe within 30 days, you can expect them to file the lawsuit against you within a few weeks to a few months of that date.

Don't expect them not to sue you. It matters not that you have no money. The judgment can be kept alive for years.

If you leave the country, you might discover that an outstanding civil judgment will prevent you from returning until you take care of that obligation.

Additionally, the US may have a treaty with your home country that allows US corporations to enforce judgments against you in your own country.

Wherever you are going to school, they should withhold your diploma until you pay your debt to Hertz, in addition to paying your debt to the school. You have no job, no assets. Who is paying for your educational and living expenses here? Rich mommy and daddy?

Disgusting. You completely disgust me. You probably prevented some hard working American kid from going to the school you attend.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 07:32 pm Post Subject:

You can go inspect the car or not. It does not change the fact that you rented a car, drove the car, and promised through your signature on the rental contract to be responsible for 100% of the value of the vehicle -- damaged or stolen. You could have avoided all of this at the cost of about $30-$40 per day of your rental period.

You are obviously educated, you actually use proper English grammar. But the fact that you have no personal auto insurance is proof that you have no business driving on any American highway -- you probably have no driver license, too, right?

What would you be asking us if you killed someone else?

I dont even have a social security number, so I dont see how they can recover the money from me


You may not have a SSN, but you have a TIN. How do I know that?

I used a debit card to rent the car


Can't get one from a bank without it.

Unless you have one of those rental debit cards that people with no creditworthiness obtain at the liquor store or market. Put a few bucks on it and it works until the money is used up. You had to have had at least $500 on the card to drive off the rental lot. Where did that money come from?

Why are you here? Are you even here legally? Just because you have no SSN is no reason for you not to be sued. In fact, all the more reason for you to be sued.

If you fail to pay whatever they claim you owe within 30 days, you can expect them to file the lawsuit against you within a few weeks to a few months of that date.

Don't expect them not to sue you. It matters not that you have no money -- that's no excuse. In fact, that should have been the reason to pay for the rental car insurance. The judgment can be kept alive for years.

If you leave the country, you will discover that an outstanding civil judgment can prevent you from returning until you take care of that obligation. And if you're even here on a student visa, a civil judgment can be the basis to deny conversion of your student visa to another one that would allow you to stay and work here. If you try to fool that system, then you can be deported which can mean no possibility of lawful return for up to 10 years.

Additionally, the US may have a treaty with your home country that allows US corporations to enforce judgments against you in your own country.

Wherever you are going to school, they should withhold your diploma until you pay your debt to Hertz, in addition to paying your debt to the school. You have no job, no assets. Who is paying for your educational and living expenses here? Rich mommy and daddy?

Disgusting. I'm sorry to say this, but you completely disgust me. You probably prevented some hard working American kid from going to the school you attend. And this irresponsible act of yours causes folks in Oklahoma to have to pay higher auto insurance rates. Thanks.

Now that you've seen and damaged America, you may leave. The sooner the better. In fact, leave today or tomorrow, so that Hertz can't find you to sue you. Don't wait until you graduate. They will find you before then. Hurry . . . Leave NOW!!

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