Hey everyone. I got rear ended a couple days ago while stopped at a red light. Got the drivers insurance info, have dashcam footage, and all of that. Not too much damage but my rear bumper is a bit messed up so wanted to get that replaced. I made a claim and got a call back from their insurance (progressive) that they cannot proceed with my claim due to the driver having “significant coverage issues” that they can’t divulge to me. Additionally, they are not officially denying my claim, but they said I would have to go through my own insurance.
What could be the issue here? I got all of the drivers info and their insurance card showed a policy that isn’t expired, name matches ID, matches the car, etc. I guess I’m hesitant to go to my insurance because the damage is pretty minor plus I’m not sure if my insurance rates will go up even if I’m not at fault. This is in Texas by the way. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Made a claim through at fault driver’s insurance – cannot proceed due to “significant coverage issue”
byu/Tushhh inInsurance
Posted by Tushhh
3 Comments
A lot of stuff could have happened. They didn’t pay their bill, the driver was excluded or removed from the policy for some reason, they were driving uber/doordash, the other driver didn’t cooperate with the claim investigation, etc.
Your options will be to file a claim on your own policy if you purchased collision coverage or sue them in court directly.
Too many possible hypotheticals for what their coverage issue could be to say for sure, but the end result is that you’re not going to get anything from their insurance company. Therefore your options become 1) file through your insurance, 2) pay for the damage out of pocket, or 3) don’t get it fixed assuming this option won’t hinder the car’s operating ability or cause long term issues.
If you choose option 1 then you’re at risk for a potential rate hike, but no one will be able to say for sure what that will look like. To me it sounds like your best bet will be to take the car to a shop you trust and just get an estimate. If they say it’s, for example, $1100 to repair and you have a $1k deductible, then you’re best off paying it out of pocket as you’d be getting just $100 from your insurance and there’s a chance that is quickly offset with future increases in your premium. I’d say you need to know what the repair cost will look like before you can reasonably plan for the next step here.
All of your evidence is liability based, not coverage based. Coverage is between them and their insurance company/contract and liability coverage will only extend after coverage is resolved.
They’re not denying your claim until the coverage investigation is complete