I Left my car running while I went into the store for a min. because I had several teen passengers, (I was bringing them to youth group.) however they took the car joyriding and wrecked it, now I'm being held accountable for their actions because I was told since the keys were in the ignition its "implied consent?"The girl who actually did the driving is 17 and unlicensed, she crashed into two parked cars and totaled my car. The passengers that were in the car with her threatened to sue me because of injuries they sustained, "whiplash." They don't have their drivers licenses, so how can they (the insurance company) reasonably claim I would allow them to take and total my car? and how can they sue me for injuries when I was not in the car at the time and the girl who took my car did not have permission?

I'm left without a car or any type of compensation bc the insurance company wouldn't pay for my car since they claim I'm at fault for the entire thing? Is there anything I can do? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Thsi isn't going to be a do-it-yourself project. You really NEED an attorney working on this ASAP. You face potentially HUGE lawsuits from everyone who was injured, up to and including the unlicensed driver. Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous, but they, or more realistically their parents, COULD bring a suit against you. Even if they don't have a prayer of winning, they could keep you tied up in court for a LONG time and simply bleed your funds dry. You've been threatened with a suit - you need an attorney to respond on your behalf AND to be the one to speak to the insurance company (who will happily twist anything you say into making the incident YOUR fault in order to NOT pay out). Do NOT talk to them, the kids, or their parents - speak ONLY with your attorney.

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While pointers can be helpful, ultimately the number one lesson in any legal action is: don't take legal advice from books, family, friends, co-workers, police officers, grocery clerks, web sites, or people on legal message boards. The only person who can give YOU legal advice is YOUR attorney.

http://www.aardvarc.org

I agree with aardvarc. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html and http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/index.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.