Crash Victim Left Paying the Price After Insurance Denial

Dear Inquisitor Hot Line – I hope you print my story.

By the time the tow truck hauled away what was left of my car, I already knew my life had changed.

It happened on a very hot afternoon in Bossier City. I was stopped at a red light when a vehicle slammed into the back of me without warning. The impact shoved my car forward and crumpled the rear end like an empty soda can. My old car wasn’t fancy, but it was paid off. It got me to work, to the grocery store, and everywhere else I needed to go.
 
The driver who hit me stepped out looking nervous. When Bossier City Police arrived, he handed over an insurance card and could not answer questions in English. A ticket was issued to him for failure to yield and no driver’s license, reports were completed, and everyone went home. I thought the insurance company would take care of the damage.
 
I was wrong. - A few weeks later, I received a phone call that felt like a second collision.
 
The insurance company informed me that although the vehicle was insured, but the driver who hit me was listed as an excluded driver on the policy. One reason he was excluded is because he didn’t have a driver’s license. In other words, the owner of the car had insurance, but not for excluded driver. The claim was denied.
 
Just like that, I went from being an innocent victim to being the person stuck with the bill.
 
My own insurance couldn’t help much. I only carried liability coverage because that’s all I could afford. Collision insurance was a luxury I couldn’t justify on an older vehicle. Now that decision left me with nothing.
 
No car. - No settlement -No way to replace what I had lost.
 
As the weeks passed, I found myself asking questions. How does a person who shouldn’t have been driving end up behind the wheel? Why does the innocent driver end up paying the price?
 
Why does the system seem designed to leave ordinary people holding the bag when something goes wrong? Why doesn’t the Bossier City Police take uninsured drivers off the road? Why are there not traffic enforcement programs sponsored by the Louisiana Insurance Commissioner?
 
Road Blocks to check for insurance, etc?
 
Every day I watched life continue around me. People drive to work, picked up their kids, ran errands, and took road trips without a second thought. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out rides, borrowing vehicles when I could, and wondering how I was supposed to save enough money for another car.
 
The ticket issued at the accident scene didn’t repair my vehicle.
 
The police report didn’t replace my transportation.
 
The insurance denial certainly didn’t help. But I understand it, the insurance company didn’t insure the illegal driver with no license.
 
What bothered me most was the feeling that accountability had disappeared somewhere between the accident scene and now. Everybody involved seemed able to move on except the person whose car had been destroyed- ME.
 
Maybe that’s why I tell this story.
 
Not because I expect sympathy.
 
Not because I think life is always fair. It is not.
 
But because every statistic has a face behind it. Every denied claim affects a real person. Every accident changes someone’s daily life.
 
In my case, it started with a rear-end collision in Bossier City.
 
The crash lasted only a few seconds - The consequences lasted much longer.
 
And what makes all this worse, when I tell my story to friends and co-workers, they know of similar stories here in Bossier City.
 
Mayor Tommy, get more people on the street enforcing the traffic laws and protecting Bossier City citizens.
 
Mr. Inquisitor, please send my letter to Speaker Johnson. I pray he can get some enforcement down here so this does not happen to others like me.
C. Smithscannon
 
*****
 
Who do I talk to about the pot holes on Shed Road between Airline and Benton in Bossier City? Those have been there for over two years and cut my tire when I drive to work in North Bossier.
 
Concerned