A drunk driver in a convertible hit my parked car on October 6. The impact caused my car to spin and hit my sister’s car in the front. Then, it also hit my mom’s car, pushing it backward into our gas pipe. The drunk driver also hit the back of my sister’s car, destroying our brick mailbox in the process. Thankfully, no one was in any of the cars since they were all parked. While our house wasn’t damaged, the gas pipe was severely affected, and we had to evacuate for about 1.5 days until the city fixed the leak. Even after that, we didn’t have gas or hot water for five days.
We’ve been trying to contact the insurance adjuster, who I’ll call Steve, from the drunk driver’s insurance company. My brother has left multiple voicemails, but Steve hasn’t responded. On November 4, we were offered a settlement: $9.4k if we keep the cars or $12.2k if we surrender them. My sister’s and my cars aren’t drivable, and the money isn’t enough to replace even one car.
My dad and brother want to close the case and take the money, saying that waiting too long might result in us getting nothing. I want to keep pushing, but I’m not sure what else to do. As of November 26, I’ve been told to call Steve’s office again, and if he doesn’t respond within 24 hours, they’ll escalate it to a supervisor.
We’ve spoken to 20 lawyers, but none want the case since there were no personal injuries involved. My sister and I are borrowing relatives’ cars while we figure this out. Does anyone have advice on how to handle this? Thank you.