Question for Leo or Atty

[tedbower]

My daughter was in a auto accident , no injury, I have a police report saying the other guy was at fault , failure to yield. There is 1900.00 damage to my car , his insurance ( PROGRESSIVE ) says sorry we make our own determination and our policy holder says he didn't do it . The police report states exactly what my daughter says happened. What is my next course of action ?

 

[Scutter01]

Her insurance should pay to fix the car, and then her insurance company sues the other guy's insurance company for the cost.

 

[Hoosierbuck]

Get your insurance involved and DO NOT make any taped statements to the other insurance company. Wait and see. Chances are either his insurance company will review the report and then contact you about paying up, or your insurance company will pay for you to get your fixed and probably a rental in the interim, then get subrogation from his insurance, which should not effect your premiums. Do whatever you think prudent, but this is the route I would go.

 

[tedbower]

Problem is I have liability only on the car and once i got the police report showing their fault I figured they would pay so I let her give a statement basically saying what the report said and then they denied the claim. So now what ?

 

[Expat]

Problem is I have liability only on the car and once i got the police report showing their fault I figured they would pay so I let her give a statement basically saying what the report said and then they denied the claim. So now what ?

You say the police report cites him as being at fault. Were there any independent witnesses. Is there any physical evidence that would support her version over his (skid marks, debris in roadway, etc)? Are you sure the daughter was not injured Your only choice may be to file suit in small claims court against the guy. If she was injured you might have been able to get one of the personal injury attorneys to help you.

 

[lovemywoods]

I appears that your insurance company won't be involved since they only have liability coverage. You'll have to pursue legal action. You might want to look into small claims court. I believe the $1900 is within the dollar limits they will consider.

I believe you would sue the owner of the other car. I don't know if you also sue their insurance company outright. You'll need to be ready to articulate exactly what happened. The police report is very helpful. Witnesses would be great too!

 

[woowoo2]

So now what ?

Just tell them fine.....
While they investigate, you will take your daughter to the doctor.

See if they change their tune.

 

[wtfd661]

I would contact an attorney for a consultation. Insurance companies are going to screw you if they can, you really need to protect yourself.

 

[phylodog]

Call an attorney. Police officers do not determine fault even though the report may read that way. Insurance companies don't really care about the officer's opinion, they will reach their own determination regardless.

Sue them. It's a pain in the rear and and costs money up front but you can subpoena the officer in to testify as to what he saw and the court will give more weight to what the officer has to say than the insurance company will. Chances are if they receive a letter from an attorney on your behalf they will settle. They know they're wrong, insurance companies are the slimiest form of scum.

 

[Expat]

Just tell them fine.....
While they investigate, you will take your daughter to the doctor.

See if they change their tune.

Depends on how much time has gone by. If just the last few days maybe, but if it was last month, that dog probably won't hunt.

Something else to consider is filing complaint with Indiana Department of Insurance. Technically this shouldn't do anything but sometimes just to avoid a hassle they will pay you off to go away.

 

[tedbower]

It just happened last week so the possibillity of injury is still there.

 

[Hoosierbuck]

Get an attorney. Do it now.

 

[4sarge]

Been there. Most attorneys will not take the case without injury to your daughter. Very flawed system but in order to collect you will have to pay an attorney out of pocket. It may very well not be worth the value of the auto.

 

[wtfd661]

I was in a very similar incident like this where I "T-Boned" another vehicle who had cut in front of me trying to get into a gas station. Believe me I had no time to react before they did it (would try to describe how it happened be it would probably confuse you more than clear it up ). No one was injured but my vehicle was basically totaled. I only had liability at the time (the car wasn't worth a whole heck of a lot, maybe why they decided to total it ). Anyways, her insurance company was a high risk outfit out of Chicago (yes the same city that **** out the current occupant in the White House). They of course refused to pay anything saying it was my fault. I wound up getting going to an Attorney office, that for lack of a better term was a general practitioner (not one of those that specialize in injury only cases). They took my case for a third of recovered damages, sent several weeks sending letters back and forth before the insurance finally caved in and paid what was owed. Of course I was out the third, but that still was more than what they were originally were offering.

Good luck to you

 

[tedbower]

Anyone know of an atty that deals in this kind of case ?

 

[tedbower]

Update, I filed a complaint against Progressive with the Indiana Department Of Insurance should know the results Nov 19th , spoke to the officer that arrived at the scene to get an idea how he came to his conclusion , I asked him to keep it fresh in his mind cause if I dont get satisfaction from the insurance commission we are going to court.

 

[LEaSH]

You don't want a lawyer to attempt to recover $1,900.

Take your daughter to the doctor for an exam, include that receipt (copy) in your next correspondence. That is the only language these people understand. Crappy, but true.

You should receive prompt payment for the full amount of car repairs.

 

[inav8r]

Ok, I'm not a lawyer, so my advice is worthless. But I've been thinking about this a lot... It really torks my chain when BIG insurance companies SCREW the little guy.

First I would call the adjuster back and ask if there's an appeals process with the insurance company. If so, I would file an appeal in writing according to their process. Often times insurance companies deny everything up front and only pay if the other party shows some initiative (my personal experience).

If the insurance company drags their feet or denies the appeal I would then file a small claims case against THE OTHER DRIVER. If you file against the insurance company their lawyers are going to bury you in paperwork. If you file against the other driver and the insurance company has already decided they're not going to do anything - they'll likely not defend the other driver. Whatever you do, DO NOT EVER say anything about going to court. Keep that your little secret.

Even if the insurance company isn't going to pay, that doesn't mean a judge won't make the other driver pay.

Now if you don't want to sue the other guy and the insurance company still isn't going to pay, then suck it up, fix the car and move on.

 

[tedbower]

I spoke to the officer that wrote the report yesterday he was surprised to here they refused to pay , said the other driver was the only one at fault . I asked him to keep it fresh in his mind cause I may call him to testify.

 

[Mr. Habib]

Update, I filed a complaint against Progressive with the Indiana Department Of Insurance should know the results Nov 19th , spoke to the officer that arrived at the scene to get an idea how he came to his conclusion , I asked him to keep it fresh in his mind cause if I dont get satisfaction from the insurance commission we are going to court.

Big +1 for the complaint with the IDI. I had a similar case a few years ago against State Farm. After six weeks of lies and excuses from them i went that route. I was notified that my complaint was received on a Monday. On Wednesday I got a call from the State Farm claims mgr. She told me that she had personally reviewed my claim and had decided to overrule her adjusters and pay my claim 100%. I had the check Friday. Insurance companies HATE visits from the insurance commissioner. They can, and will, go in and audit EVERY claim settled by that office for the past year. That can cost the insurance company tons of $$$$. Them would much rather settle with you than go through that.