I was accused of an accident in a parking lot, but I don't know all of the details [California, USA]
Location: California
I was DoorDashing in my mother's vehicle one afternoon, and during my last pickup of the day, I got a message that a police officer showed up to my mother's residence stating that I had hit someone in a parking lot a half hour earlier and ran. My mother gave the police office her insurance information and my phone number to get my side of the story. When I stopped and looked at the vehicle, there was no new damage on the vehicle from that day, as my mother's car is a commuter vehicle and has some scrapes from road damage and a busted taillight that occurred two months prior that we've been working to repair before this incident occurred. I relayed to the officer, over the phone, that I didn't have any new damage on the vehicle, and I didn't hit anyone when I was in control of the vehicle. He still passed on my mother's insurance to person making the claim.
A week later, my mother's insurance received a letter from a lawyer claiming more than $1000 dollars of damage and injuries, but relayed no details of the crash, like type of car or how it happened. The only thing they submitted to the insurance company was a picture of the back of my mom's car that I was driving as I was stopped in the parking lot waiting for someone to cross in front of me before I drove off. Both my mother and myself explained to the insurance investigator what happened and they denied the claim for two reasons: 1) that there was no evidence of a collision on the car and 2) insurance wouldn't cover it because I was actively DoorDashing at the time. (Note: According to my DoorDash records, the day and time of the incident I was in the middle of a three stop delivery, meaning I was an active DoorDasher at the time.)
Since that time, they have tried to make a claim against my personal car insurance policy (same company as my mother's), even though I do not carry personal insurance on the vehicle that I was driving at the time. And yesterday, I received a letter from the DMV stating that I need to fill out a SR1 form for the accident, stating that I could have my license suspended for not having insurance for the accident. I also got a copy of the police report, but it had nothing on there and all comments were redacted. The only thing I learned from the police report was that it was called in as a non-injury accident.
So, this is where I'm at. Any lawyer that I try to contact about the case wants a retainer that I cannot afford. DoorDash needs a ton of information about the incident to submit on a form for their insurance to cover it, and I don't know anything about the incident other than the location and time and what I gleaned from the insurance claim and the police report.
Do I try to contact their attorney to get more information? Are there any legal resources that might be able to help me with this? Should I contact the DMV about this as well and give them my insurance information? And should I tell the DMV I was DoorDashing at the time of the incident and that DoorDash's insurance should be the one to cover it?
I'm at a loss on what to do. Thanks!