Hmm... I need to find out myself. I don't know what is the answer to that question. I'll do some Googling and get back to you if I bump into an decent answer. You should email the people at Discover Card as they probably could assist you..

Well this is my take on it. Regardless, your license can't be yanked without the judgement. If they're looking for the deductible, then the CA must represent the other RO of the vehicle you hit. (Since they would be the one out the $600) Odds are the amount falls in small claims, so if you did get served you could pay before the court date and elude the judgement. I get what you mean about shady, years ago in Indio shops were working sand damage scams. Essentially, filing paint claims with insurance cos' for repaint due to damage from the sand that blows in the desert.

Even though they were never repainted. As to why your insurance co wasn't immediately involved. Well that could be anything. Some ppl just call their own insurance co to file a claim. Even if their not at fault.

I was in an accident years ago. I called the other drivers insurance co and filed my claim (Geiko) the agent actually asked me why I wasn't calling my own co. My reply was cause it wasn't my fault. None the less. The CA is just bluffing.

And that aint the CA. You might want to consult a consumer attorney, to see where this falls in regards to the tort/debt part. Another alternative, is there is a message board run by a Cali lawyer, that gives out free legal advice. I'll see if I can find it in my bookmarks, if it's still there. Essentially, it is made up of cali lawyers, who dispense Civil legal advice.

Instead, it seems like they just turned it over to a CA, and figured....If they get the $$ then great, if not we never expected to see it anyway and didn't want to go through the hassle of suing. Not to mention if you are sued in a Cali small claims court. You still have the right to appeal before a judgement can be levied. You can even have a default judgement set aside. What can I tell ya..

They have 3 years to sue you for property damage in California and A Judgement in Califoria is valid for 10 years and can then be renewed for an additional 10 years. So 20 years total if renewed. The judgement also accurred interest at the court mandated rate. IT is currently around 6%..

This post has been edited by sjca: 05 February 2010 - 09:38 PM..

Actually the insurance carrier can sue you for money they pay out to their insurance. They will present an assignment of rights to the court and they step into the shoes of their insured...

How likely is that?? Cost them more in legal fees than what they paid out. Not to mention, they know the likely hood of collecting from someone who wasn't insured in the first place.(And wouldn't bother) And even if they did, they would just sue for what they paid out to the body shop. Not the deductible of the other driver paid it. It would be what they paid out - the $600 in question. Sure the other Driver could allow the CA to represent her interest in small claims. But without a judgement, what are they gonna do?? And like I said above, even if they had a judgement, she could still appeal or have it set aside (if it was a default) And ppl wonder why Cali is Bankrupt. At least cigarettes are still fairly cheap there...