ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Nearly two years after a minor in a stolen car hit Pablo Gil’s vehicle on Thanksgiving Day, he is still trying to get money for repairs.
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Gil was pumping gas off Landstar Boulevard in November 2018 when his vehicle was hit.
“The perpetrator had sat by the pump for a while, just kind of seeing what was happening and then when the police attempted to approach him, he hit the gas, and just took off and plowed into my car,” said Gil.
At first Gil said Allstate, the insurance company for the owner of the stolen vehicle, agreed to pay the nearly $5,000 in damages.
But 10 days later Gil said Allstate went back on their promise.
“Because the vehicle was stolen, they said, under their guidelines or fine print, they didn’t have to take responsibility,” he said.
It turns out the owner of the stolen vehicle is not responsible in Florida.
Spectrum News 13 reached out to Gil’s insurance carrier at the time, GEICO. Gil says they also refused to pay for repairs.
Mark Friedlander with the Insurance Information Institute said if Gil had optional collision insurance, it would have covered uninsured motorist property damage. But he did not.
Because the person behind the stolen vehicle was a minor at the time, it is hard for Gil to get information on the driver.
Spectrum News 13 put Gil in touch with a local attorney’s office to hopefully help him out. No luck yet, however.
“I’ve been going through every resource I could find to try and get more information to see who can take accountability for it,” said Gil.
Both Allstate and GEICO told Spectrum News 13 they could not respond to specific claims.