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The original was posted on /r/bestofredditorupdates by /u/Direct-Caterpillar77 on 2025-05-19 04:00:02+00:00.

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/cantheyreallydothis

Company car I was driving was hit by a drunk driver. Insurance fully paid for the car but the company says I still owe them $40,000

Originally posted to r/legaladvice

TRIGGER WARNING: insurance fraud

MOOD SPOILER: Really positive

Company car I was driving was hit by a drunk driver. Insurance fully paid for the car but the company says I still owe them $40,000 [CA] Aug 21, 2015

I was on my way home from work in my company car when I was hit almost head on by a drunk driver. He was found at fault by the police and the insurance company and was charged and convicted. His insurance settled with the company and gave them a payout to replace the car, which the company lawyer accepted. I am still off work recovering from my injuries and I probably won’t be back for 3 more months. Last month I received a letter from the company stating that I owed them the cost of the car because I was the one responsible for it when it was totaled and written off. I thought it was mistake or something so I called the insurance company, got written confirmation of the settlement and sent it into them with a note that the car had already been paid for by the insurance company. Now they have sent me to a collection agency and I have debt collectors calling saying I owe $40,000. I live in California. Do I call the insurance company to let them know or do I need to get a lawyer? Is them calling the debt collector even legal? Sorry if these questions are stupid, but I am already stressed enough from trying to recover and this has just made it worse.

RELEVANT COMMENTS

Apexian

Try making some phone calls to your employer and the insurance company to see if you can get things straightened out quickly. But if you hit a brick wall, it’s time to get an attorney involved. Don’t let this go too long…

OOP

My employer tells me I have to talk to the debt collector since it is in their hands now. I’ll call the insurance company first thing Monday morning to see what they say.

Apexian

It sounds like maybe you work for a pretty large company? You might need to climb the chain of command to speak with someone who has more familiarity with these issues. Your own employer should not be trying to collect a debt from you, whether directly or through a debt collection agency. The insurance company represents your employer, so they will probably be of limited assistance. More than likely, you’ll need the help of an attorney to cut through this red tape.

Edit: oh - wait - who is the original creditor that turned over the debt to the collection agency - your employer, or the insurance company?

OOP

The drunk driver’s insurance company paid them $40,000 as a settlement to replace the car. This was accepted by the company lawyer in a letter and payment was sent.

My company is the one that sent me to the collection agency.

Apexian

Ah, got it. Yeah, it sounds like someone at your employer screwed up. You need to work your way up the chain to find the person who can rescind the decision to send it to collections. The insurance co. might be able to give you some leverage/documentation/contact info.

Update Oct 1, 2015 (2 months later)

Original post here. The tl;dr version is that I was almost killed by a drunk driver while I was driving a company car. His insurance paid the blue book value ($40,000) to the company but I was sent to collections and told that I owed them $40,000 for the car because I didn’t return it to them in the condition which they gave it to me.

No one at the company or the collections agency would help me and they just sent me back and forth (company told me to talk to collections, collections told me to talk to the company) so I ended up getting a lawyer because the stress of being hounded by collections was setting back my recovery.

The lawyer sent a very strongly worded letter to someone high up that I couldn’t reach myself because I kept getting the run around. That person didn’t know anything about it and the company launched an investigation. The three people who kept giving me the run around ended up being charged with fraud and a bunch of other stuff. I don’t know much but the police say they have emails and they think the 3 were planning on keeping the payment for themselves since the company was already paid. They are also in trouble for fraudulently using company resources to send me to collections for a fake debt.

Afterward my company wrote me a letter of apology. They paid the costs for my lawyer and made sure the debt was removed from my record. They also made a donation to a charity of my choice. I am nearly ready to return to work but they told me to take as much time as I need. After talking with the police I believe the higher ups were not aware because the police say the 3 were trying to keep it a secret. The drunk driver’s insurance is paying all my bills related to the incident so I won’t have debt from this ever.

All in all I am doing much better. I would like to thank /r/legaladvice and everyone who offered advice and encouragement and sent me supportive messages. You were all so helpful and I appreciate it :)

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