Hit By Rocks From Dump Truck in Alabama

[5hartley]

A construction company dump truck pulling a trailer ,passed me on the highway going in the opposite direction and hailed my vehicle with several large rocks.I almost lost control of my vehicle because it scared me so bad,I had my children in the car.I turned around on the 2 lane highway and attempted to chase down the truck and the entire time the truck left a trial of the rocks.I was finally able to catch up with the truck at a red light but I was not able to get the drivers attention before the light changed ,traffic was pretty heavy,but I did write down the name of the company and the ID number on the door.I stopped a police officer at a gas station and told him the truck was throwing large rocks and he immediately went after it.I then came home and reported the incident to the construction company.They contacted me the next day and told me that they inspected the truck and it had a leak in the tail gate allowing the rocks to escape.I sent them an estimate of damages from the local Chrysler dealership in the amount of $2,000 for paint, windshield and trim.I was contacted by their insurance company and she asked me why I didn't get the drivers name or the name of the police officer that I stopped,I explained to her that it was too dangerous to pursue the driver in the heavy traffic and the police officer immediately went after the truck because it was a danger to other drivers,I also told her that the constuction company admitted there was a leak in the tail gate,the truck was in the area and that they only have one dump truck.The insurance company is refusing to pay for the damage because they say there is no proof of the incident and I do not want to file a claim with my insurance company.I have beautiful 2006 Chrysler 300 that now has deep chips in the paint and a cracked windshield due to their negligence and it will suffer dimished value according to the Chrysler dealership.I need to know how to seek compensation with out filing a claim through my insurance company.Is there a way that I can make their insurance pay for the damages and if not do I have a strong enough case to file in small claims court and can I use I use my daughter as a witness? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[aaron]

There doesn't seem to be a reason not to try small claims court. You can also see if you can track down an incident report or citation issued based upon your report to the police.

[lwpat]

You do need the name and information from the officer. The department can probalby give you that information. If he did catch and cite the truck you should not have a problem collecting. Insurance companies get these type of complaints all the time and many of them are false so you will need some additional proof. Are your children old enough to testify?

[5hartley]

I went to the police department to see if there was a citation given but they said they couldn't look back that far (one month ago) She advised me to file a report with the State Troopers since they over see DOT trucks and I have up to 90 days to do so.

I have decided to take them to small claims court,now I am just trying to educate myself as much as possible because I have never been to court before.

My plan is to use my 11 year old daughter as a witness,subpeona the rep who admitted there was a leak in the tail gate,ask for the $2,000 in damages and $1,000 for dimished value (there is a $3,000 cap in my state) I will use the estimate from the dealership for the damages but I am not sure how to prove the dimished value.The manager from the Chrysler dealership told me that there will probably be around $3,000 in DV.I had never even heard of DV until then ...so I am thinking $1,000 sounds reasonable considering it is a nice newer car.

If anyone has any other suggestions I would definitly appreciate it.