I  doubt it would ever get to court!  "Arbitration" maybe,
but that's purely an insurance company thing, I think.  This
sort of thing happens all the time, with the guilty party
having second thoughts and lying to his/her insurance
company.  Once the matter has been placed in the hands of
your insurance company, it's their job to take care of it.
Best thing is to let them do it.

My insurance includes a "loss of vehicle" provision that
will pay at least PART of the rental for a given number of
days.  Also, there are small rental agencies (not Hertz,
Atlas and Enterprise) who rent "transportation" quality used
vehicles for a lot less than the big companies charge for
pristine late-model ones.  (You don't care what it looks
like, just so it gets you back and forth while your own is
in the shop.)

I'd let it go to court. I'm not sure if I'd try to find a witness,
and just trust that judges who preside over small claims court (or
whatever type of proceedings it is) will know what questions to ask
when it's one person's word over the others. They have ways of
learning who is credible. I know that doesn't help you in the short
run. What type of insurance do you have with your insurance
company? Maybe you can get a rental car that they'll pay for while
it's being settled? I understand your panic! When I was hit I was
afraid that the mother of the kid that hit me was going to try to
fight it since it was their policy. But, she and her son did the
right thing. A good influence on her son. Ethical.

Good luck, purrs, and hope this settles soon.

I got a call today from the insurance company for the guy who backed
up into my car with his truck. The f*****g b*st*rd is claiming that I
rear-ended him!!! I can hardly believe it - I'm really upset. I'm
going to end up with a bad driving record, and my premiums are going
to go way up.

He had no damage to his truck. I had thousands of dollars worth of
damage. Clearly, he wants to get off scott-free, and he probably
will. I will not get my deductible back, but far worse, this will be
on my record and I will be known as a dangerous driver.

No, I did not call the police at the time. I would like to shoot
myself for that omission. But I didn't, and I am now stuck dealing
with this situation as it is. Unfortunately!

There were no witnesses that I can recall. Although I'm thinking of
ringing a couple of doorbells just to see if anyone did see it, but
didn't happen to come over to talk to us. This happened right in my
neighborhood, so I don't feel too weird doing that. Or maybe I could
put up some signs. Does anyone think that's a good idea?

The adjuster who works for my insurance company is off today, so I
have to wait until Monday to talk to her. She said that if they
denied it, they would go to arbitration, but I don't have much hope.

Does anyone have any *other* ideas of what I might do about this?

I didn't get the guy's phone number (got everything else from him!)
so I can't call him and ask how he could do this to me. This was not
an accident with any grey areas. You know how sometimes in an
accident, it's hard to tell who's at fault, because it's not clear
exactly what happened. In that situation, I would understand if the
other person claimed it was my fault. They might honestly believe it
was.

However, THIS WAS NOT THAT KIND OF ACCIDENT. It was very obvious to
both of us what happened. I was sitting still, and he put his truck
in reverse and backed right into me. He even said, "I put the truck
in reverse by mistake." He admitted he was at fault. Now it's his
word against mine. And he's going to win it, because rear-ending
accidents are extremely common, whereas people don't usually back up
into a car behind them! So who are they going to believe?

Purrs would be lovely, but if anyone has been through this and who
knows what my rights are - if I have any - or has any suggestions of
how I might prevent myself from being a victim in THIS situation (I
know how to do it in the future, ie, GET WITNESSES - but I need help
NOW), I am all ears!

Tearful Joyce