Q: Can I sue another driver in small claims court for 50% of my deductible if subrogation unfairly found us 50/50 at fault?
The police report sided with me; the officer on-scene stated that the other driver struck my car's driver's side door with his car's front bumper due to his making an unsafe left turn in a mall parking lot. The officer also stated in his report that the other driver admitted that he hit me. In the subrogation decision, the 3rd party arbitrator disregarded the police report and based their 50/50 decision on the other driver's recorded statement to his insurance company. The arbitrator included excerpts from the recorded statement, which included the untrue claim that I hit his car (contradicting what he had told the officer at the scene, as well as the visible damage to both our vehicles). Since the decision found us equally at fault, I only received half of my deductible back from my insurance company. My insurance agent strongly disagreed with the arbitrator's decision and recommended that I sue in small claims court to recover the money I had to pay out of pocket for repairs.
A:
was it a binding arbitration where both of you agreed to live with the ruling?
a lawyer would want to have read the papers you signed re arbitration..........
did you do this with a lawyer? if so would s/he file an appeal?
you can always sue in small claims court for up to $10k but the ruling in arbitration may be determined to have adjudicated the matter.
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