Q: My vehicle was damaged by another driver backing out of a parking lot and now I'm suing, what can I do?
I was driving through a parking lot and a driver backed out whilst I was behind his vehicle and dented my fender. He claimed that he did not hit me to his insurance so they said it was a he said/she said since there was no damage to his vehicle. I have a third party witness that saw the incident and the insurance company spoke to them and still did not change their ruling. Now I am suing the person responsible for hitting me (he is being represented by his insurance) and I still have the third party witness and forensic evidence showing the contact point from his vehicle matching to the damage on my vehicle. Note, this person has an aftermarket reflector light on the back of his vehicle, which is what dented my fender. This reflector does not come from the factory on his vehicle. Their only claim is that there is no damage on his vehicle, so he did not hit me. What are my chances in court? and how should I go about fighting this? I am representing myself, the damages are worth $1200.
A:
A Texas attorney could advise best, but your post remains open for three weeks. As a general matter, it sounds like you prepared extensively to make your case. You took the effort to obtain the statement of a witness. Something to think about (if it is still available) could be an surveillance footage of the lot. As a GENERAL matter in small claims courts across the nation, their websites sometimes provide guidelines in terms of documentation, evidence exhibits, and other elements of presenting a case. If the court system has such resources, they could be worth visiting. What are your chances? That might difficult to offer a guess about. Good luck
Tim Akpinar
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