Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

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mojave
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Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by mojave »

Two weeks ago my husband was rear ended coming up on a red light. The other driver was at fault and received a ticket from the police. My husband wasn't hit too hard and didn't need medical attention thankfully. But at the very least the trunk and bumper will need to be replaced. No idea if the frame or suspension was affected though, as we are waiting to do anything with that car until insurance covers it (husband has a truck he is using in the meantime) instead of paying out of pocket now and getting reimbursed later.

Both my husband and the driver have State Farm. My husband immediately called our insurance and filed under the other guy. However, the other guy's insurance has been trying to get a hold of him for two weeks and he will not answer or call back. Our agent said that they have to try to get a hold of him for 60 days. They were a little unclear on what happens after that, but I can't imagine they will just give up at that point? Otherwise people would ignore insurance all the time to get out from paying.

My husband talked to the officer that was on scene and there will be a court date for the ticket in a few weeks. My husband's theory is the driver is going to try to get out of the ticket by hoping the officer doesn't show, thus possibly removing fault. My husband of course will be there to ensure there is a witness present.

We have a copy of the ticket and looked up the driver's phone number listed on it and we think it's a fake number - it goes to a business that appears to no longer exist.

What would you do from here? What happens if the phone # the insurance has for him isn't actually a number that gets to him and is a "fake" number?
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

You will be paid out - you did state that the driver at fault maintained valid insurance from State Farm, correct? If State Farm fails to pay you correct restitution for the policyholder's at fault accident, get yourself an attorney or you can sue them in small claims court but this would be a last case scenario.
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greg24
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by greg24 »

The insurance company has much experience in this area, you do not. Let the insurance company do its job, its not your job to pursue negligent customers.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by mojave »

Grt2bOutdoors wrote:You will be paid out - you did state that the driver at fault maintained valid insurance from State Farm, correct? If State Farm fails to pay you correct restitution for the policyholder's at fault accident, get yourself an attorney or you can sue them in small claims court but this would be a last case scenario.
Thanks. Yes, the other driver has State Farm as well. So after 60 days they will cover us then? The 60 days is just to give the driver an opportunity to tell his side but if he ignores them they move ahead anyway?
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by mojave »

greg24 wrote:The insurance company has much experience in this area, you do not. Let the insurance company do its job, its not your job to pursue negligent customers.
We are not pursuing or contacting him in anyway. I'm trying to make sure we don't get screwed over.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by Rupert »

State Farm is paying either way -- either on the other driver's liability policy or on your collision policy. So they should have already told you to get your car repaired. Have they? Just about everything else -- whether the other driver gets a ticket, shows up for court, or ever talks to State Farm again -- should be irrelevant to you. You get paid by State Farm regardless.

And, btw, the other guy doesn't avoid fault for insurance purposes if the ticketing officer fails to show up for court (which, also btw, won't happen; the officer will show up or the hearing will be re-scheduled). You don't have to get a ticket to be deemed at fault for an accident.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by mojave »

Rupert wrote:State Farm is paying either way -- either on the other driver's liability policy or on your collision policy. So they should have already told you to get your car repaired. Have they? Just about everything else -- whether the other driver gets a ticket, shows up for court, or ever talks to State Farm again -- should be irrelevant to you. You get paid by State Farm regardless.

And, btw, the other guy doesn't avoid fault for insurance purposes if the ticketing officer fails to show up for court (which, also btw, won't happen; the officer will show up or the hearing will be re-scheduled). You don't have to get a ticket to be deemed at fault for an accident.
Thanks! This is good to hear. I'll let my husband know to call the officer back just to verify that this would be true for the town. If he misses a day of work he misses a day of pay as he is not salaried, so we don't want that.

Yes, State Farm told us we can go get it repaired and pay out of pocket and we will be reimbursed later. We want to avoid this though, since we have another vehicle my husband can use in the meantime.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by barnaclebob »

Will the repair place make you pay up front or do they just not give you the car back until you pay? If so then you have a bit of a buffer. In any case there is nothing stopping you from getting estimates at the state farm recommended repair places. If the estimates are high enough they could just total the car. This depends on the value of the car relative to the repair bill. If its a newer car and they don't total it then don't forget about claiming diminished value.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by dickenjb »

I don't see what the problem is, you will be paid regardless. I wouldn't bother to show up for some stranger's court date.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by bungalow10 »

State Farm usually has direct bill repair shops. Who told you that you had to pay out of pocket?

I suggest you call your agent and figure this out. You will get better info from him/her than you will from the internet.
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Rupert
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by Rupert »

mojave wrote:
Rupert wrote:State Farm is paying either way -- either on the other driver's liability policy or on your collision policy. So they should have already told you to get your car repaired. Have they? Just about everything else -- whether the other driver gets a ticket, shows up for court, or ever talks to State Farm again -- should be irrelevant to you. You get paid by State Farm regardless.

And, btw, the other guy doesn't avoid fault for insurance purposes if the ticketing officer fails to show up for court (which, also btw, won't happen; the officer will show up or the hearing will be re-scheduled). You don't have to get a ticket to be deemed at fault for an accident.
Thanks! This is good to hear. I'll let my husband know to call the officer back just to verify that this would be true for the town. If he misses a day of work he misses a day of pay as he is not salaried, so we don't want that.

Yes, State Farm told us we can go get it repaired and pay out of pocket and we will be reimbursed later. We want to avoid this though, since we have another vehicle my husband can use in the meantime.
Are you sure they didn't mean you'll just have to pay your deductible out of pocket and be reimbursed later? When I've been in this situation in the past, the body shop was paid directly by my insurance company. I never saw a bill. I did have to pay my collision policy deductible but I got that back after my insurance company collected, via subrogation, from the at-fault driver's insurance company.

Edited to note: +1 to what bungalow10 said. Go with a State Farm preferred shop. They'll pay the shop directly, and your repairs will be guaranteed for as long as you own the vehicle. If problems arise later, e.g., a leak develops, they'll fix it again at no additional cost to you.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by mojave »

Rupert wrote:
Are you sure they didn't mean you'll just have to pay your deductible out of pocket and be reimbursed later? When I've been in this situation in the past, the body shop was paid directly by my insurance company. I never saw a bill. I did have to pay my collision policy deductible but I got that back after my insurance company collected, via subrogation, from the at-fault driver's insurance company.

Edited to note: +1 to what bungalow10 said. Go with a State Farm preferred shop. They'll pay the shop directly, and your repairs will be guaranteed for as long as you own the vehicle. If problems arise later, e.g., a leak develops, they'll fix it again at no additional cost to you.
You're right it is the deductible, but our deductible is $500.

Good info, thank you.

We have both talked to insurance several times but they aren't doing a good job of explaining anything.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by FelixTheCat »

I don't understand why your State Farm policy isn't paying immediately. You should go to a repair facility approved by State Farm. They will repair your car and only charge you the deductible. It's that easy.
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mojave
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by mojave »

imgritz wrote:I don't understand why your State Farm policy isn't paying immediately. You should go to a repair facility approved by State Farm. They will repair your car and only charge you the deductible. It's that easy.
Yes but we don't want to pay the $500 deductible right now when we don't need to use the car.
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Hawkeye5
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by Hawkeye5 »

Tell your agent you want to file an uninsured motorist property damage claim.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by texasdiver »

mojave wrote:
imgritz wrote:I don't understand why your State Farm policy isn't paying immediately. You should go to a repair facility approved by State Farm. They will repair your car and only charge you the deductible. It's that easy.
Yes but we don't want to pay the $500 deductible right now when we don't need to use the car.
You shouldn't owe any deductible at all. If the other driver is at fault then his insurance should compensate you 100% for you loss.

Your $500 deductible is if you put in a claim for something YOU did to your car while driving (collision) or something that happened when it was parked such as hail damage or parking lot damage (comprehensive) and there is no one else at fault to make a claim against.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by leonard »

The point of insurance is to handle this situation. I have no idea why this would become this much of a research project and sleuthing as it seems to.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by derosa »

Call your insurance agent. And if you have to call and talk to them 5 times do it. You have nothing to do with the other driver or his insurance. I am wondering if you have even called your own agent at this point? Have you?
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by ResearchMed »

Something is wrong with what you've been told, and most of the above comments reflect that.

Additionally, you should be able to get the car repaired right away and probably get a rental car courtesy of the insurer.
Even if you don't have that coverage, if someone else is at fault, HIS insurance picks that up. (Same thing if there were injuries, and several days of pay were needing to be reimbursed, usually.)

Your insurance should be paying even if there are problems, and then going after the other driver's insurer to get reimbursed, although it isn't at all clear why there are any "problems".

But especially if State Farm is the insurer for both of you, what's the hangup here? They don't have to jump through hoops to "verify the coverage of the driver" - it's the same company.

Much of this should be paid on your behalf, without your fronting much - if any - money.

It sounds like you aren't getting good information, but why...?
Call and speak with someone else or with a supervisor/manager at State Farm.

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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by madbrain »

texasdiver wrote:
mojave wrote:
imgritz wrote:I don't understand why your State Farm policy isn't paying immediately. You should go to a repair facility approved by State Farm. They will repair your car and only charge you the deductible. It's that easy.
Yes but we don't want to pay the $500 deductible right now when we don't need to use the car.
You shouldn't owe any deductible at all. If the other driver is at fault then his insurance should compensate you 100% for you loss.

Your $500 deductible is if you put in a claim for something YOU did to your car while driving (collision) or something that happened when it was parked such as hail damage or parking lot damage (comprehensive) and there is no one else at fault to make a claim against.
That's not correct. The deductible applies regardless of who is at fault, unless you elected Waiver of Collision Deductible, and the other driver is uninsured or in hit-and-run cases, in which case you don't have to pay the deductible.

If you want to recover the deductible and the other party is at fault, you would have to go after them directly for that amount.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by Cosmo »

Following with interest as I would be unsure what to do here as well. I am amazed at the conflicting opinions here on what seems to be relately straight forward process.

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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by VortexStreet »

Cosmo wrote:Following with interest as I would be unsure what to do here as well. I am amazed at the conflicting opinions here on what seems to be relately straight forward process.
I believe that some of this results from the fact that laws differ from state to state. For example, the process in a no-fault state like Michigan would differ from much of what has been written here.
Last edited by VortexStreet on Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by Spirit Rider »

madbrain wrote:That's not correct. The deductible applies regardless of who is at fault, unless you elected Waiver of Collision Deductible, and the other driver is uninsured or in hit-and-run cases, in which case you don't have to pay the deductible.

If you want to recover the deductible and the other party is at fault, you would have to go after them directly for that amount.
I don't know where you live, but that is certainly not true where I live. If you are involved in an accident where the other party is a fault, your deductible does not apply. The other party's insurance is 100% responsible.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by madbrain »

Spirit Rider wrote:
madbrain wrote:That's not correct. The deductible applies regardless of who is at fault, unless you elected Waiver of Collision Deductible, and the other driver is uninsured or in hit-and-run cases, in which case you don't have to pay the deductible.

If you want to recover the deductible and the other party is at fault, you would have to go after them directly for that amount.
I don't know where you live, but that is certainly not true where I live. If you are involved in an accident where the other party is a fault, your deductible does not apply. The other party's insurance is 100% responsible.
My location is listed in my forum profile, next to my post. I have never been in an at-fault accident, but always had to pay the deductible, except the one time the other driver was in a hit-and-run and uninsured and could not be located, and I had Collision Deductible Waiver.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by climber2020 »

mojave wrote: We have a copy of the ticket and looked up the driver's phone number listed on it and we think it's a fake number - it goes to a business that appears to no longer exist.

What would you do from here? What happens if the phone # the insurance has for him isn't actually a number that gets to him and is a "fake" number?
I got hit a few years back by a guy with no insurance. I had uninsured motorist coverage, so my car got fixed with no out of pocket cost to me, but my insurance company had a difficult time contacting the guy who hit me.

I tracked him down on Facebook and forwarded the information to my insurance company. The fool shared quite a bit of public information for someone who was trying to keep it on the down low.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread is now in the Personal Finance (Not Investing) forum (insurance).
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by raymclean »

mojave wrote:
Rupert wrote: We have both talked to insurance several times but they aren't doing a good job of explaining anything.
Mojave,
Sorry to hear that you are being given the old run-around. Here's what to do:
1. Write your story out succinctly in a demand letter (a real letter, not email) to your insurance company.
2. Indicate a copy to your state's Insurance Commissioner.
3. Mail them both via Certified Mail, Return Receipt.
4. Shop for a new insurance carrier for when this is all over.
Good luck!
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by BrandonBogle »

My mother has State Farm in Florida and this sounds very similar to an experience we had many years ago. Basically, it's go through your policy and pay your deductible, with the deductible being reimbursed to you if they charge it to the other driver's policy later; or wait until the determination of fault is made and the at-fault policy will pay out directly. The reason for the "hold-up" is because they haven't had a chance to hear from the other driver. Until they hear from them, or 60 days passes, they do not make a determination of guilt on which policy to charge it against.

So the Op is exactly where she states she is. State Farm hasn't reached the other party and will try for up to 60 days. If you want to wait it out until they make their determination of guilt (which will be against the other driver unless the Op hasn't shared all the relevant details), then you never pay your deductible. If you don't want to wait, then you pay your deductible now and wait to get reimbursed.

Most times, it isn't a difficult thing to talk to the other party and make the determination, so usually there is no such delay in them determining the other party is at fault and proceeded without much wait.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by GDBryan »

I'm not sure if this is still the case, but many years ago I had an accident where both the other driver and I had State Farm. The deductible was waived, presumably because State Farm would not have to negotiate with another company.

Having survived 6 teenage drivers, (including myself), I've had a little experience here. +1 for all the comments that say let them take care of it.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by celia »

mojave wrote:We have both talked to insurance several times but they aren't doing a good job of explaining anything.
Maybe you need to write down all your questions and call back and ask them each question, instead of asking us.

Start with: What's the next step?
Do we need to do anything else?
Can we have the car repaired now?
Where do we take it?
Will we have to pay anything?
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by vested1 »

In my opinion your main problem is that you are insured by State Farm. One of our vehicles with full coverage was recently hit and the other party who had AAA insurance was at fault. I contacted State Farm who initially wanted me to take it to a body shop that was cheaper than my first choice, also a State Farm approved shop, but was 2 hours away. I was then told by my agent that I would have to pay the $500 deductible and would be paid back when they received that amount from the at fault driver, which would "probably" take a couple of months. This after 4 phone calls and numerous different stories from State Farm depending on who I talked to.

I contacted AAA (who I unfortunately switched from about 2 years ago) and gave them the particulars. They were very helpful and found it hard to believe that State farm was insisting on a $500 check before the repair could take place. AAA told me to take the car to the location of my choice and not to worry about paying for anything, even offering a free rental car, which I declined. The whole conversation took about 10 minutes and AAA called the approval in to the body shop before I arrived later that day.

Moral of the story: Dump State Farm after your car is fixed and find a more reasonable insurance company.

Anecdotal? Perhaps, but enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth. BTW, we also had another claim when a different car with full coverage was hit (and run) while parked legally in a parking garage. State Farm would not waive the $500 deductible despite multiple accounts on 3 cars and home-owners insurance, so comments from others that they may waive your deductible are probably outdated.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by jaj2276 »

If you've never been in an accident (or it has been a while), trying to find out the "next steps" is a bit of a scary proposition.

I was driving from SC to NY when someone rear-ended me on I-95 (I stopped in time, he did not). He was not the owner of the car (it was his brother-in-law's). He gave me the insurance information from the glove box, it was expired. I called up his insurance company and verified the policy was still in force. I copied down all the information and left (there was no police involved).

When I got to NY, I called up the other car's insurance company and filed a claim (I was with Geico at the time, he had Liberty Mutual). They sent out an adjuster who came by and looked over the car. The guy seemed nice but he wasn't trying to pick out every thing that "could" be wrong with my car. He gave me an "estimate" of repair work which he calculated as $900. I took my car to the nearest body shop (I had just moved to NJ so I didn't know where I should go) and explained the situation. I told him about how I was a bit worried that $900 wasn't going to cover everything. He laughed and said of course it wasn't going to be enough. He said that I would soon get a check for the amount from the adjuster and that I should do nothing with the check except bring it to him (along with the car).

Sure enough I get a check in the mail from the insurance company for $900. I brought that check along with the car to the shop and after a few weeks, my car was good as new. The total cost went to around $2500. The body repair shop said the insurance company wants you to get that initial check and cash it which implies that you accepted the settlement. What they're banking on is that your car is still driveable and you'd rather have $900 to play with (or use on other pressing matters) and you'll fix (or not) the car at some later date.

So my advice to you is to call up State Farm (which I know is your insurance co as well) and make a claim against their policy (not yours). My insurance company did not get involved in my accident at all. If the other insurance company hadn't been responsive then I would have made a claim with my insurance company which would have then gone after theirs. Obviously with SF being both parties' insurance, it's simply an accounting trick and should be much easier to handle (although it probably won't be.).

Good luck.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by smpatel »

This is interesting thread. I posted on other thread which was similar in nature that when someone is at fault in the accident and though there are no injuries involved, they/insurance is liable to pay. Not only my friend's insurance company paid for the other person's car but the other two people(driver, passenger) sued my friend for more money (25K each, 50K total) and insurance company represented my friend in the court!

In other words, despite having no injuries or ambulance involved, bodily injury claim was put on top of property damage to retrieve more money through an attorney!
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by dolphinsaremammals »

vested1 wrote:In my opinion your main problem is that you are insured by State Farm.
I had State Farm. I'll save myself typing in how badly they handled a car theft incident and a flood insurance incident. Big waste of my time, money, and added stress over a long period of time. Never again.

Change to Amica.
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mojave
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by mojave »

BrandonBogle wrote:My mother has State Farm in Florida and this sounds very similar to an experience we had many years ago. Basically, it's go through your policy and pay your deductible, with the deductible being reimbursed to you if they charge it to the other driver's policy later; or wait until the determination of fault is made and the at-fault policy will pay out directly. The reason for the "hold-up" is because they haven't had a chance to hear from the other driver. Until they hear from them, or 60 days passes, they do not make a determination of guilt on which policy to charge it against.

So the Op is exactly where she states she is. State Farm hasn't reached the other party and will try for up to 60 days. If you want to wait it out until they make their determination of guilt (which will be against the other driver unless the Op hasn't shared all the relevant details), then you never pay your deductible. If you don't want to wait, then you pay your deductible now and wait to get reimbursed.

Most times, it isn't a difficult thing to talk to the other party and make the determination, so usually there is no such delay in them determining the other party is at fault and proceeded without much wait.
Thank you.
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mojave
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by mojave »

vested1 wrote:In my opinion your main problem is that you are insured by State Farm. One of our vehicles with full coverage was recently hit and the other party who had AAA insurance was at fault. I contacted State Farm who initially wanted me to take it to a body shop that was cheaper than my first choice, also a State Farm approved shop, but was 2 hours away. I was then told by my agent that I would have to pay the $500 deductible and would be paid back when they received that amount from the at fault driver, which would "probably" take a couple of months. This after 4 phone calls and numerous different stories from State Farm depending on who I talked to.

I contacted AAA (who I unfortunately switched from about 2 years ago) and gave them the particulars. They were very helpful and found it hard to believe that State farm was insisting on a $500 check before the repair could take place. AAA told me to take the car to the location of my choice and not to worry about paying for anything, even offering a free rental car, which I declined. The whole conversation took about 10 minutes and AAA called the approval in to the body shop before I arrived later that day.

Moral of the story: Dump State Farm after your car is fixed and find a more reasonable insurance company.

Anecdotal? Perhaps, but enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth. BTW, we also had another claim when a different car with full coverage was hit (and run) while parked legally in a parking garage. State Farm would not waive the $500 deductible despite multiple accounts on 3 cars and home-owners insurance, so comments from others that they may waive your deductible are probably outdated.
Interesting. I will check out AAA after this blows over, thank you for sharing.
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mojave
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by mojave »

dolphinsaremammals wrote:
vested1 wrote:In my opinion your main problem is that you are insured by State Farm.
I had State Farm. I'll save myself typing in how badly they handled a car theft incident and a flood insurance incident. Big waste of my time, money, and added stress over a long period of time. Never again.

Change to Amica.
I will look into Amica as well after this blows over, thank you for the suggestion.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by BrandonBogle »

I will add that I forgot I had a similar account with State Farm in NC. Someone crashed into my legally parked car. He had Allstate. I contacted my insurance and they said I can file through them, pay my deductible, and get reimbursed when they get reimbursed. I did not have rental coverages, so I would have to pay that out of pocket. They said I could file against the other policy directly.

Allstate was easy to work with. They said they cannot make a full determination until they hear from their insured (this was the morning after the accident). He was still in the hospital and they would keep trying to hear an initial thoughts from him so they could preliminarily approve the claim and thus, give me a rental car. They did get ahold of him later in the day and called me back with the "determination" that their insured was at fault. I was allowed to take my car anywhere, which ended up being the Toyota dealership. Made sure I got OEM parts and everything.


In case you are wondering about the hospital bit. The damage wasn't too bad. Needed the bumper and quarter panel replaced and paint (and fade) in the front driver side of the car. However, when the accident happened, the guy got out the car and was walking up to my steps to knock on my door and tell me about it. He was so nervous he had a seizure and collapsed onto the corner of the steps and began bleeding out from his head. They kept in the hospital for observation to make sure he had no serious injuries. Ended up just being a concussion, a gash in the temple, and his pride. He and his family eventually sent me a very nice card thanking me. Apparently his friend in the passenger seat froze and was just watching him bleed out at the door. I heard the crash and as soon as I saw him I called for an ambulance.
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LadyGeek
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by LadyGeek »

Similar to a free credit report, you can get a free insurance claims report. After the dust settles, take a look how the accident appears on your record.

See the wiki: CLUE database
C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) is a claims history database created by ChoicePoint that enables insurance companies to access consumer claims information when they are underwriting or rating an insurance policy.[1]

The report contains consumer claim information provided by insurance companies. It includes policy information such as name, date of birth, and policy number, claim information such as date of loss, type of loss and amounts paid, and a description of the property covered. For homeowner’s coverage, the report includes the property address, and for auto coverage, it includes specific vehicle information.[1]
Note this covers both auto and homeowners.
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iceman
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by iceman »

madbrain wrote:
Spirit Rider wrote:
madbrain wrote:That's not correct. The deductible applies regardless of who is at fault, unless you elected Waiver of Collision Deductible, and the other driver is uninsured or in hit-and-run cases, in which case you don't have to pay the deductible.

If you want to recover the deductible and the other party is at fault, you would have to go after them directly for that amount.
I don't know where you live, but that is certainly not true where I live. If you are involved in an accident where the other party is a fault, your deductible does not apply. The other party's insurance is 100% responsible.
My location is listed in my forum profile, next to my post. I have never been in an at-fault accident, but always had to pay the deductible, except the one time the other driver was in a hit-and-run and uninsured and could not be located, and I had Collision Deductible Waiver.
I was in an accident once where I was rear-ended at a stoplight. The other driver had a different insurance company than me. When I reported it, my insurance said I could either make a claim through them, subject to paying a deductible, or work directly with the other driver's insurance company, where I not pay a deductible (if I made the claim with them, I believe they would turn around and go other party's insurance company). The trade-off being that not being a customer of the other company, they have less incentive to work with me. In any case, my car was totaled, but the payout from the other insurance company was fair and timely so I had no issues. I believe I had the option to go back to my insurance company to make the claim through them if I felt like I wasn't getting traction with the other driver's insurance company.

It sounds like the OP's situation could be similar - if the OP makes the claim under their own policy, they should get a pay out promptly but subject to deductible. If the OP is waiting for payout under the other driver's policy (w/o deductible), then likely State Farm needs to get details from that driver. In this case, having the same insurance company for both parties might not be helping things. State Farm has to pay out regardless, but if they drag things out on the other driver's policy side, OP might elect to pay them a deductible to take his claim from his own policy.

With the caveat that the above is a bunch of surmising on my part based on my experience six years ago and backed up by no research whatsoever.
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by Lafder »

When I was hit by an insured driver, the police report clearly showed it was their fault.

I contacted my insurance and they said to handle it all through the other driver's insurance. No deductible or out of pocket on my part, not even a report on my insurance, they did not even want more detailed info and said only to be in touch with them if I had trouble getting the other insurance to take care of it..

I took my car to a shop they covered, after doublechecking my insurance agreed it was a good shop.

The other driver's insurance covered my rental car the entire time.

The court date is simply that the other driver was cited and has a fine and it will be on their driving record. This has nothing to do with you. All you need is the accident report.

If you are having trouble getting their end of the insurance to take care of you, contact your insurance agent and see if they can help.

Their insurance may be more motivated to get your car fixed faster if they are paying for a rental while it is in the shop. Otherwise not fixing it saves them money since it takes longer to py, versus costing more every day you have the rental.

You may also be eligible for "diminished value" compensation in addition to the repairs being paid in full. I reminded the insurance they were not at all being asked to pay medical or pain and suffering. The accident was very stressful, but luckily I was truly not physically hurt at all.

The other driver may be out of town or dealing with a family emergency. The police report alone should be enough to make their insurance step up and take care of things.

Best wishes,
lafder
jane1
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by jane1 »

This might vary by state, but the states I have lived in, this is the case.
If the other party is at fault, their liability insurance covers your car. You are not subject to deductible and can get rental car even if you don't have rental car coverage.
If they don't have insurance, your uninsured motorist coverage covers your car.
If you are at fault, your collision insurance (deductible applies) covers your car. You get rental car only if you have rental coverage.

If it is not confirmed who is at all fault, you can start with getting payment against your insurance (collision) and your insurance will go after the other party.

In your case, since State Farm has to pay either way, they seem to be trying to take the easy way out and giving you the run around. You have to be firm with them. Maybe you can try to call GEICO, Allstate or some other insurance company and tell them you are a potential client and would like to understand how they would deal with such a situation and who is responsible for what, etc.
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gardemanger
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by gardemanger »

I was once car-less for three weeks while my car languished at a body shop - extensive damage from an accident where I was found to be at fault. I *so* very deeply regretted not getting rental car coverage on my policy. I had had a fit of frugality at some point and decided I didn't need this coverage, which would have cost me $14 per year. That turned out to be a false economy.

OTOH I *never* skimped on my uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and always kept that much higher than the legal minimum. I had heard and seen...too much.
pshonore
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by pshonore »

jane1 wrote:This might vary by state, but the states I have lived in, this is the case.
If the other party is at fault, their liability insurance covers your car. You are not subject to deductible and can get rental car even if you don't have rental car coverage.
If they don't have insurance, your uninsured motorist coverage covers your car.
If you are at fault, your collision insurance (deductible applies) covers your car. You get rental car only if you have rental coverage.

If it is not confirmed who is at all fault, you can start with getting payment against your insurance (collision) and your insurance will go after the other party.

In your case, since State Farm has to pay either way, they seem to be trying to take the easy way out and giving you the run around. You have to be firm with them. Maybe you can try to call GEICO, Allstate or some other insurance company and tell them you are a potential client and would like to understand how they would deal with such a situation and who is responsible for what, etc.
Insurance regs differ by state, but in most states uninsured motorist coverage covers bodily injury only; if you don't have collision and the other driver is uninsured you're out of luck and will have to sue him.
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gardemanger
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Re: Husband rear-ended, driver ignoring his insurance

Post by gardemanger »

There are actually two different kinds of underinsured motorist coverage: Underinsured motorist bodily injury (UIMBI) and Underinsured motorist property damage (UIMPD). I don't know about the other states but both were certainly available to me in California.
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