O.T.-rant on car insurance claim

Wife got caught up in a wreck (not her fault) yesterday and the other driver's (at fault, got the citation/summons) insurance won't admit liability. I put in a request for the accident report to send to the insurance company from the sherrif's dept. I hate dealing with this kind of mess. Got to get a rental for the wife as we don't have a spare vehicle, but can't until they look at our car. I hate dealing with this kind of s!!t. Just glad she's OK. Our car totaled the one that pulled out in front of her, says something for a 15 year old Camry. Spoke to a friend of mine who runs a body shop, he's gonna come to the house and look at it, give an estimate. Hope it works out as I don't want to be buying another vehicle.

If you really want a nightmare,combine State Farm with no fault. You'll get what they tell you they'll pay,no negotiations,and you can't go back on the other driver for a dime.

If their insurance company isn't a well known national brand you can expect to get about 40% of the damages at best. Then it will be a knife fight to get that.

That is why if it is your fault; my fault; no bodies fault; I just file it under my collision coverage and let the insurance companies fight it out. They have the time; money; lawyers; and experience to do the job. Sure I have to come up with my deductible but I get that back once the insurance settles.

In my state if the repairs equal or exceed 75% of the blue book value the car is totaled.
For a 15 year old car that is not going to be much.

Glad your wife wasn't injured. Medical problems and costs can make replacing the vehicles look like peanuts. It does not take much damage to total a 15 year old car, especially if an air bag went off. Check what assistance your insurance company can provide. Do your homework and provide copies of your documentation to demonstrate the value of your car. I find KKB (Kelly Blue Book) valuations are higher than most others.

Be respectful to the insurance people you deal with, they deal with the same "stuff", confusion, angry people, people stretching the truth, and folks trying to rip them off, every single day. If you can be prepared and courteous, you can save yourself a lot of inconveniences. Save your rants for this forum.

Same thing happened to us in 2015. Our car was only 1 year old. Got a reasonable settlement for the car (however I still needed to buy a new car). It didn't look too bad but since the air bags went off they almost always total it. The issue was my wife's injury. Shrapnel from the exploding knee air bag cut open her finger. She needed several surgeries. After our medical portion was used up our insurance wouldn't pay anymore medical and we were forced to sue because I was over 20 Gs out of pocket over that. Finally got it back a year later.

If you wanted to read some real horror stories about State Farm, all you would have had to do was read some trade magazines from the auto body business around ten years ago. I also had a State Farm adjuster deny a $700 claim that was clearly her insured's fault. She knew I'd rather pay my deductible and let my collision insurance cover it than go to the time and expense of taking them to court for $700.

That being said, when our daughter was in college, a drunk driver totaled a car for her. Police had witnesses that our daughter had a full green light going through an intersection and this drunk in a pickup made a left turn into her.

Anyway, the drunk was already with a high risk insurance company in Indianapolis, and they only offered me about half what the car was worth. The car was a Buick Century, loaded up with every factory option, including a sun roof, and the insurance company based their offer on the most stripped down, plain Jane model.

I looked up the value of the car in four different price guides and averaged the four for the price I wanted for the car. I added some for a rental car. I then went to the Nebraska Insurance Commissioner's office and filed a complaint against the company in Indianapolis. When you file a complaint against an insurance company, by law they have 15 days to respond.

I loved it. On the afternoon of the 13th day, the adjuster I'd been dealing with called me and said they'd "had reason to review my claim". They just happened to up their offer to almost the exact dollar amount I'd asked for.

In other words, the Nebraska Insurance Commissioner told them to get real or they were history in Nebraska. I've had a few yelling matches with hostile adjusters, but when they find out I've been an adjuster myself and probably know as many tricks of the trade as they do, they start to cooperate. What you need to do is stand your ground, but don't be unreasonable.

It has been several years since it mattered who got the ticket, if anyone Insurance companies employ their own investigators and they determine fault regardless of what law enforcement thinks. You could see if your agent could help move things along without you having to make a claim (do NOT make a claim with your agent if you truly believe it is not your wife's fault). Many agents will do what they can just to keep your good will, although there is not much they can do if the other company is recalcitrant.

Also your state has an insurance department and you can always call them to get their take on the situation. I had to go to the Kansas insurance commissioner once to get a rental car paid for.

If your car is 15 years old (I was a little gray on that part of the story) you will not find an insurance company to pay for repairs if there is much more than a dinged bumper. They will want to total it and if there is a lot of damage it is to your advantage to have it totaled.

Wife's Suburban was parked on the street 3/14. Young lady not paying no attention hit it.Totaled her car and in the end they totaled my wife's also. All cosmetic damage. Asked for a rental and was asked,Why? It looks drivable. I explained that the quarter panel was bent over the gas fill. So we got a rental. After 3 adjusters looked at it, yesterday they made me an offer. It was reasonable so I accepted(actually more then I thought it was worth). Only problem is they say it's gonna take 2-3 weeks to process. Dealing with the short guy in the green helmet.

Same here. I will file with my insurance co that works for me. The other persons insurance has no desire to treat you fairly. Apparently they never want my business in the future.

I was involved in an incident last year, the reimbursement for the deductible was in my account before the rest of the claim was processed.

That's the way it works these days. Son went through a similar situation recently. Refuse to cave in and be prepared to go hard line on what a proper settlement will be. It likely will take awhile. Ins. companies don't like to hear those magic words of "My attorney or I may have to contact the insurance board if you don't want to negotiate with good conscience." My son finally settled after they came up $6000 from where they started. It's a hassle but they are counting on you getting tired of haggling with them and settle for the least they can get. Good luck.

Accident reports do not indicate or imply faults, at least to insurance co's, they do their own investigating. They can also do split fault on some cases. For an example: car pulls out in front of you, causing a collision but you were speeding. Insurance company decides their client was 75% at fault, and you are 25% at fault. The claim amount could reflect a decrease in payment to do split fault/liabililty

Figure out how to put time on your side, whether you try to fix your vehicle or replace it on your own. They are betting on settling their deal asap, desperate people will settle for lesser claim amounts. Also they are there to make a deal in their favor and the first offer is a low ball (unless you think it's fair).

When my truck got hit and totalled, their ins low balled me bad. I replaced the truck 2 days after, so I did not need to dicker with them quickly. After going back and forth for about 6 mos they finally settled for what I thought was fair, which was a little over $5k difference

A few years ago I had a real battle with Nationwide (Run and hide) on a deer/car collision that totaled my '03 Chrysler T & C. The guy I dealt with was a real s o b, out of Columbus, OH. But a little later, I had a Box Elder tree blow down on my pole barn, and the guy that came out from the same company was a real gem. Different division, I guess.

It's only been a day, well two now, but still likely under 48 hours. Friend of mine recently rear-ended a truck, impaled his car on the truck's pintle hitch. No damage to the truck, as he never actually touched the truck itself, only the pintle hitch. Totaled his car. Took about 3 days, but the insurance company came back with an offer that was enough to pay off the car and put a healthy down payment on the next one.

Give them a couple of days to figure out what they're going to do. Don't expect them to cut a check "while the body's still warm" so to speak...

Phil, glad all are okay that's what really matters. I don't practice much in auto accidents or liability, I've done some so here is a bit of very basic and generic AND TOTALLY NON RESEARCHED professional legal advice, which is free as that's what its worth absent a thorough study and review of the law and facts.

FYI the other auto owners insurance company OWES YOU NOTHING they didn't hit your car so don't expect them to admit or do anything. You have no contract with them.

HOWEVER they DO have a contract with the other driver which basically says if she is found liable they will defend her and pay claims. You or Your attorney is looking for the deep pocket which usually is NOT the other driver

If there's a legal action you don't sue her (other driver) insurance company YOU SUE HER at which time her insurance contract kicks in and they will defend her and/or pay claims etc. A threat of legal ACTION OR A demand is what gets the insurance companys attention. Its often much much cheaper to pay a small claim then take it to court DUH.

Her Insurance company will likely not even talk to you. BUT DONT TELL THEM ANYTHIGN OR ADMIT ANYTHING EITHER

The way it works is the injured party (you or your attorney) SERVES A DEMAND on the wrong doer seeking damages for repairs, injuries, pain and suffering, lost wages etc etc etc .

Subject to liability (a fact issue for the judge or jury NOT you NOT her NOT the cops) they may come back with a counter offer etc ITS NEGOTRIABLE. If you settle you accept all and waive any law suits and take the money and run.

Don't be in a hurry, keep excellent records and a daily ledger, keep receipts of all expenses medical and car rental and lost wages, keep a good paper trail and document and preserve evidence. You typically have 2 years to bring legal action

ADVICE (but do as you well please) DO NOT bet the farm or take a risk or loose any rights or do as your know it all brother in law or ANYONE here, lay or even professional, including MEEEEEEE says, but consult professional competent legal advice. BUT BE AWARE THEY MAY WANT 1/3 OR MORE IF YOU GIVE THEM THE CASE!!!! Myself nor anyone here knows all the facts or your states laws and is only hearing ONE side of the story

Get a couple repair estimates, take lots of pictures, get a copy of the police report, keep good records of ALL expenses and losses, consider a good medical exam and report. Often YOUR insurance company will handle it all
on your behalf (for free no need to hire a lawyer) and you get compensated and they seek payment from her insurance company

Nuff said, do as you well please, this is NOT complete or accurate ONLY a few basic things you may or may not wish to consider. As I always say LEGAL OR ELECTRICAL questions draw the most opinions including meeeeeeee lol

John T BSEE, JD Attorney at Law

John, as usual your reply makes sense and is easy to understand, perhaps logical is another word which might apply. I'm sure people lose a lot of sleep over these auto accident claims and everything that goes along with them. I have a friend who is a lawyer, does mostly corporate and business law stuff so I've never used him at all for anything. Actually, other than stuff like real estate, wills, etc, I've never had use so far for a lawyer of any kind. But oft times over a beer, we might be discussing some legal issue that say is currently in the news, etc. His take and analysis on things is not always easy to understand and therefore it never seems to make sense to me.

Thanks for the kind words. You have to remember I'm NOT like any real city lawyer, I had a REAL life as a farmer and engineer BEFORE law school when I was over 40 and had developed some common sense lol. As BOTH an attorney and an engineer, however, there's no freaking way I can keep it short n sweet n simple. There are just too many unknowns and too many variables most are unaware of that my engineer/lawyer brain has to sort out when giving an answer. And besides its impossible to describe in a sentence a topic that can fill an entire law library but hey I do the best I can to try n help on here........When it comes to law or electricity EVERYONE (formally trained or not trained) has an opinion including me. I'm ONLY one man ........and homeless and on an old age pension to boot lol

John T

If your friend rear ended the truck why on earth would trucks ins bay for car????????????

Don't know about that my personal insurance company are real SOBs when settling a claim under no fault or single vehicle accident (think car/deer) but I had to settle a claim with them when someone with that insurance hit one of my employer's vehicles that was parked. They were much more reasonable when they needed to make nice and get me to sign a settlement as opposed to a no fault/ single vehicle accident where they tell you what they'll pay, what parts they'll use, how long you have a rental car and if you don't like it you're welcome to sue.