In Nov. 2006 I got in a car accident on the highway. Put simply, I hydroplaned and spun across all lanes and got hit from behind. At the time I was 20 and never having been in a car accident I was very scared. I stayed in the car until the police came. I called my mom who handled everything. My parents never said anything much to me about it so I assumed it was all taken care of in the appropriate fashion. This until 2 yrs. later when I get summoned to court. The people in the car who had hit me from behind (and their insurance company) were taking me to court to retrieve about $ 3k they said I owed them. I went to court and only their attorney showed up asking to postpone. I received a letter of the postponement date and was going to speak to my insurance company and attorney when a few days later I then receive a letter from the Plantiff's insurance company directly saying I owe them $ 3k. For a second I thought it was my own bill I had a debt with! Then a few weeks later I received another letter from the court saying the case has been cancelled. I thought that meant the case was dropped but then a few weeks after tax time of this year I get a letter from the Comptroller of Maryland saying that my state tax refund has been applied to an outstanding debt...the Plantiff's insurance company for $ 3k.
Now, at the time of the accident my mom told me that the people in the car were unable to give her insurance information because they did not even have it on them. Also, I called MY insurance company and they claim they cannot help because at the time of the accident I was uninsured (but my dad says I should have been because he HAD paid that month - the car was insured under his name).
At this point I am utterly confused and not sure about what to even do. I thought the whole point of going to court and getting those court letters this whole time was for the Plantiff was to try to recover the $ 3k. I didn't know their insurance could just turn around and bill me regardless and on top of that, take my state tax refund!
At this point, do I need to hire an attorney? Is what their insurance company doing possible to force me to pay them? I'm not sure where to even start to unravel this mess. :(
Best answer:
Answer by Joseph
If the car you were driving was insured, then you WERE insured. The insurance covers every licensed driver. The only way anyone can attach (claim your tax refund for a debt) is if that person or company has a court order saying that you owe the money. I thing there is some definite 'hanky-panky' going on. I looks like the other car owners and/or their insurers received a court order by getting a default judgment against you. How that did it is illegal. Go to the court (usually civil court). And check to see if any judgments were issued in favor of the other people or against you. If there was, than that's your answer as to how they got your tax refund. Now you have to get a lawyer and sue, them, their insurance company, and your dad's insurance company. Your dad's mainly for not interposing a defense for you. Good Luck.
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