Can small-claims court settle 'he said - she said' matters?

A truck waiting to make a left turn at a 4-way intersection decided instead to back up in the left turn lane when the light changed & hit my wife's car - also waiting to turn left.

The driver got out, apologized profusely for 'ruining my wife's day' and explained she couldn't see behind her or hear my wife's horn over the sound of her truck engine. They pulled out of traffic to exchange insurance information, no witnesses stopped, & since damage appeared minor and other driver took responsibility my wife did not call the police.

Now the driver (fleet driver) is telling her insurance and ours that my wife hit her! Our insurance company believes us, but State Farm is siding with their customer & we are out our $1,000 deductible. Subrogation was unsuccessful.

Will small-claims court hear a 'she lied' claim to recover our $1,000? If she HAD told the truth, we'd still have our deductible. I am not THAT concerned with winning, but I do want it to be an appropriate claim.
A) Your insurance has not sided with you.

B) Small claim courts hear arguments with opposing and contradictory facts as presented by oppossing parties all day long, every day.

C) The Judge will determine who is more believable and what evidence supports the most likely version of the truth. However, some proof is required and your wifes statement may not prevail in the end, or it just might. Good luck.
it will depend on what the jurisdictional limit is in the small claims in your county is. The small claims court in arizona will hear cases up to $2500, but you'd need to check with your county to see what the limit is.


Answer:
Most small claims courts will hear a $1000 case. What I'm concerned about is that you said 'subrogation failed.' If State Farm subrogated the claim (meaning they 'stepped into your shoes' as the Plaintiff) then you probably can't bring any action at all. Most insurance policies give the company the right to subrogate your claims and litigate them on your behalf. If they did this and lost, your claim is 'res judicata' and cannot be relitigated anywhere.

If they did NOT subrogate in the technical sense and follow through with an actual lawsuit against the trucking company, you can still bring an action (again, provided one hasn't been filed already). Then it simply comes down to credibility and you have to be more believable than the defendant--if you both just as believable, you will lose.

The upside to filing the lawsuit is that you may be able to force them to cough up a few bucks to settle if they don't want to take the time or risk to go to trial. Although, with filing fees hovering around $200 bucks or more, it can be a pricey gamble.

You can probably use the fact that the police didn't respond in your favor. Most companies have a policy that a police must respond to accidents or that police reports need be filed. If the cops didn't show, I'd suggest to the court that it was because the truck driver was at fault and didn't want it on her record.

(Disclaimer: no attorney-client relationship is formed by the use of this information. Nothing in this posting should be construed as legal advice between an attorney and client. These materials are for your personal information.)
They will hear it, but you still may not get it resolved to your satisfaction.

Tell your wife to NEVER leave the scene of an accident without making a police report again. Had the police been there at the time, the driver would have been more likely to tell the truth after having just apologized to your wife. Now it's eternally he-said, she-said, as you say.

Good luck!
Of course they can settle it. That's what small claims court is for. You each just have to bring as much 'proof' as you possibly can including witnesses and such. A judge is bias so they will make an educated decision on he said/she said.