Hi,
I live in Yamaguchi prefecture, 2 weeks ago while driving home from a Hiroshima Carp game I was rear ended while completely stopped at a red light by a Japanese national. The accident caused damage to my trunk and bumper and physical injury to my wife. We did the proper procedures and called the police and exchanged info. The police asked me if I wanted to charge the person who hit me and I said no, I just want him to get my car fixed and handle the treatment required for the injury. Now the guys insurance is telling us that they will cover the medical treatment, but not the repairs of my vehicle because the “market value” of my car is lower then the cost of repair. I drive a customized 1998 Mitsubishi Galant VR4 with a Twin Turbo V6 and they tried to buy me off with 276,000 JPY. I have several questions Im hoping someone can help me answer.
1. Is it illegal to contact the guy who hit me, let him know his insurance won’t pay to repair my car and see if he does the right thing and pays out of pocket?
2. If that doesn’t work and I take him to court, if I win does he cover the cost of the lawyer and would I be able to get more out of him for making me waste so much time?
3. Would I be able to get the car fixed out of my pocket then take them to court with receipts of the repairs so they can pay us back?
Thank you all for reading this.
10 comments
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Talk to a lawyer.
I’m assuming you’re on Iwakuni base, because nothing else is out here. Ask base legal and see a lawyer. If you need more PM me.
1) probably not a good idea because they might say you’re harassing them.
2) talk to a lawyer.
3) logically thinking that should work but it’s Japan, talk to a lawyer.
Contact PMO and legal
I had an acquaintance who bought the car of his dreams here and within a couple months got in a wreck. Insurance did the same with giving a low value. He tried to push the insurance company for more. They gave a little bit more but that’s all they could do.
Not sure how much you’re asking but if your Japanese is good consult Yahoo 知恵袋 and you might get a good answer from a Japanese persons’ point of view.
If they think the current market value of a Legnum VR4 is less than JPY300k they are smoking fucking crack.
Talk to a lawyer and invest in a good dashcam.
1. You have talked to your insurance right? They should be handling the negotiation of repair of damages to your car.
2. If you have comparable vehicles show them – they are responsible for the market value of the vehicle or repairs.
3. Worst case you can get a lawyer and sue for damages – that will take 6-12 months.
Sorry for your troubles, and hope your wife is feeling better.
Don’t contact the guy directly – it’s not illegal, but it is NOT productive.
You’re going to need a lawyer to negotiate this.. Market value for that car is around 2 million yen stock, and you’ll have to itemise all the custom work. Get a DEALER to provide a valuation estimate for the car, and labour and parts costs to re-do the custom work on a replacement stock vehicle. Also get all the costs for the custom work that you put into it (and include cost of shipping any parts form overseas, etc.).
I had a custom bike totalled, and all the custom work was itemised separately (including labour costs). I got back 90% of value of the bike, and nearly 100% of the value of all custom parts, plus the value of the labour on the part installations. I got the (totalled) bike returned to me for taking 100K less on the settlement, sold all the custom parts that I didn’t want to re-use, parted out the rest of the bike right down to the frame (sold for scrap), and flipped all that into my current bike – which is worth significantly more.
Don’t get it fixed out of pocket just yet – let some negotiations happen first. You may be able to come out way ahead of the game if you play it patiently.
Also – your wife should go to the hospital for every twinge of pain to query the doctor. Every time she goes is 8K in your guys’ pockets, plus compensation for any time she takes off work to do so (cash for vacation days). And every time she has a medical treatment, the dick that hit you will get a postcard telling him that there was another medical payment.
I’ve been in a car accident before where the other guy was in the wrong.
I’d play my hands strong by telling the guy directly how much you want as an out of court settlement. If he isn’t willing to research then he will take your offer because its on him to fear the lawsuit. Should probably do this even if you have zero intention to sue.
If he does do his research then talk to a lawyer?