Small Claims

Not to long ago on April 1st, 2007, I got into my first car accident. My mom, my sisters, and I were visiting family up in San Mateo. My mom took my grandmother to the store to buy a couple things before my grandmother went back home. As we were trying to leave the parking lot, we notice something come up behind us. Unfortunately, it had to be a wide truck. The parking spaces are very compact for most cars to get through. Our car was turned on but still in the parking gear. Suddenly, we felt the car move from side to side. I got out of my car after the guy in the truck stopped. On the drivers side, both the quarter panel and bumper had a dent. Since toyotas are not made very well, both parts were crushed like soda cans. I was so mad to see my car in the bad shape. The guy who hit my car was very sincere and promised to pay for the damages, but people do not always do what they say. We exchanged information such as insurance policy numbers. Dealing with the insurance was a different story.

When we got a hold of the insurance, it took a couple weeks to get a response to see what they would do. Unfortantely, they informed my parents and I that they wouldnt pay for the accident and that they couldnt tell us why. I thought it was very unfair because that guy hit my car and he should pay for what he did. Since the insurance wouldnt pay, I would have to take it to the next level which would be to sue him. I really did not want to go through the trouble of going into court when I have school and work. What made matters worse was that I had to file in San Mateo county because thats where the accident occurred. So I filed the papers online and payed the fees. I am only asking for the estimate of the damages, nothing more. I do not want anything else, I just want my car to be fixed. Anywho, so the small claims court sent me an email saying I should call in to verify my court day beforehand. So a couple days ago I called in and they told me that the defended was not notified of the charges. Being this is the first time I am suing someone, I had no idea I had to get a process server. No one told me that.

Therefore, I had to take the day off from work to drive all the way to San Mateo to reset my court date because I did not get a process server. Small claims changed my court date and hopefully this time things will run smoothly.