This happened in Ohio today. My wife was involved in an accident, she was stopped at an intersection in a left turn lane yielding to traffic going the opposite direction.
A Tesla in the center lane on the same direction traffic she was facing but going straight collided/swiped her vehicle, the impact was strong enough it pushed her car and caused the traction control system lamp to come on and stay on. The Tesla kept going straight, stopped for a brief moment the kept driving while wife turned around. She came back and they were nowhere to be found.
Wife reported to the police immediately and a report was filed. About 2 hours later the police called her and said they also called to report the accident and blamed my wife.
Wife called her insurance (State Farm) and was told to call Tesla Insurance and file with them since it was their fault and hung up the phone. Should my wife still file a claim? Seems like the State Farm insurance should have filed a claim for her? Thanks in advance.
EDIT: for clarity I am wondering if my wife should still file a claim through her provider, State Farm.
State Farm Said to File With Tesla Insurance
byu/bholepimp inInsurance
Posted by bholepimp
10 Comments
Do you have collision coverage?
If your wife is not at fault it would be best to try and go through the other parties insurance so that it doesn’t count as a claim on your own policy. If they blow you off or determine you were the one at fault that’s when you would want to involve your insurance company.
If you feel the Tesla was at fault then you should file with their carrier. If you file with your own you are subject to your deductible which you may or may not get back later. If you are fine with the deductible then file with State Farm.
If you have collision insurance it’ll be easier to go through your insurance.
You’ll be responsible for your deductible. If your insurance company looks to subrogate the claim onto Tesla because of the investigation and fault they will work to collect the damages from them and return your deductible.
It’ll be quicker and easier on you as it sounds like the Tesla driver isn’t going to cooperate.
Get your car fixed, let insurance deal with it in the back end. That’s why you pay them. Use the service you pay for.
If you don’t have collision you’re going to have to fight the other driver for their insurance to pay.
Good luck.
Was she talking to a claims adjuster at state farm, or the agent who sold the policy?
You need to file with their insurance if they were at fault. Only file with yours if your wife was at fault or you start having problems with the other company.
Everyone that says file with yours, doesn’t understand that having a claim on your record (even not at fault) does affect you.
This is now a he said/she said situation. File with your own insurance and let the insurance companies hash it out. I’ve had to do this, they get your deductible back for you if the investigation shows she’s not at fault. I was the front car in a 3 car accident, car behind me hit me first, then was hit, pushing her back into me. Those two insurance companies were fighting over who hit first so I just filed with my insurance, got my car fixed, and my insurance dealt with that bs. I got my deductible back about 2 months later.
Invest in a dashcam.
Teslas have all kinds of videos, make them show the accident
State Farm is notoriously aggressive about shifting liability. Just file with them. Tesla is, frankly, an unresponsive dead end. Your State Farm rep knows it and doesn’t want to get dinged for unrecoverable subrogation.
Those telling you to not file on your insurance are forgetting that they other party is already blaming your wife. Filing with Tesla insurance is just going to result in them denying your claim if their insured lies. File with your carrier and let them deal with it. Yes you might not get your deductible back but if Tesla denies your claim you’ll just have wasted time and be back to having no choice but to file on yours.
Ohio Revised Code sections 3937.22 and 3937.23 prohibit insurance companies from raising premiums after a single not-at-fault accident.
If it was me, I would file with my own carrier for anything that’s major damage and especially if the vehicle is anywhere accumulating storage fees (a tow yard or repair shop). You won’t have to worry about limits issues if the other person’s policy doesn’t have enough liability limits to cover your damages. You can typically get your repairs done much faster through your own carrier because you don’t have to wait for the liability investigation to be complete.
For minor claims, where there is no rush to get the vehicle repaired, then you always opt to wait and see if the other carrier will repair your vehicle for you. If they do, then you won’t have to pay a deductible.
If you pay for collision coverage then you are entitled to use it if you want to. If Tesla does not file your collision claim on your policy if you decide to utilize your own coverages then I would file a complaint with your state’s department of insurance.