The insurance company doesn't want to pay.

1,000+ years of trucking experience between all the various people that have responded all saying the same thing, and yet YOU are arguing with them...

And not one saying that you are as innocent as a baby lamb. There are rules in this country (welcome to America by the way - if you dont like it here or dont like the way things are done here, feel free to go elsewhere), and ONE of those rules is you dont put a commercial vehicle on the road without insurance. And as an owner, you dont ALLOW a vehicle on the road.

When you said: "the owner hired..." at THAT point, you LOST ANY CHANCE. Thats why you dont just hire anybody that walks in the door... You hired him, its YOUR problem. Dont care WHAT the driver did. He was working for YOU. Im sure when the driver gets tracked down he will say that you told him to do it. True or not, thats what he will say. Can YOU prove you didnt? Your word against him, and its YOUR name on the truck. The TRUCK was at fault for the damage, and therefore the owner of the TRUCK writes the check.

Again, welcome to America.

Welcome to trucking.

Dont like it?

Tough...

 

Continuing to try and place the blame everywhere except where it needs to be.

As others have mentioned, I’m sure everything else in the driver file was up to snuff before the driver left without being on your insurance. At least you closed your company down before the audit happens, that will save you some money. Just another hot shot company playing loose with the rules like most of them do.

You would’ve been better off acting like you don’t know the driver and reporting your “truck” stolen instead of admitting you hired the driver and turned them loose with your equipment before all the pieces were in place.

 

I'll be so lucky if you escape with only $4,300 out of this mess. You've had to pay it by now with no hesitations. It's all your fault.

 

Who is at fault for the crash is irrelevant in this instance. The insurance company is executing their obligations under their contract for service (the policy) and lawfully denied the claim. The owner could subrogate, same as the insurance company would, and sue the at fault party if he chooses to do so.

The problem is, if he does, they have a clear defense based on an unqualified driver in the vehicle. They can use the "shouldn't have been there" defense.

 

Why does this matter?

For the images ... It seems the pickup is at fault. He/She was in the wrong place and interfered with the car's ability to drive on the road.

I don't get what the OP wants us to say?

Many of us deal with these things all the time, and we own up to it. I have had out-of-pocket expenses exceeding 15 times that much from an accident, but I don't try to get out of it. $4300 is nothing when you look at the bigger picture, it is clear that many fleet owners are running on a thin margin and can't even afford fuel for a month let alone for something like this.

I don't get why owners want to obfuscate their legal and financial responsibilities. The insurance company should after this incident an investigator go to the company to confirm the liabilities caused by mismanagement and then put into the records of the company/owner that they are a high risk at the same time cancel their policy with a letter informing the FMCSA of such action.

As harsh as this sounds, the real problem is this - all of this skirting of responsibility costs all of us money, we pay for this crap in higher premiums, huge payouts through ambulance chasing litigation, and many times dealing with a fatality because of the crap drivers on the road that cheap POS owners hire.

 

Btw this incident isn’t over by a long shot . Once other party learns that they can sue you for a pile of cash even though it may be their fault the OWNER better hope they have a conscience and don’t ..

 

explain.

 

Anyone else notice that the truck is damaged at the right steer axle?
According to the police report the op posted. The only way that damage could be on that side of the truck is if the op’s truck was at fault.