A week ago I (28M) was rear ended by an 18 year old girl who fell asleep on the wheel. She admitted fault, gave me the car's insurance information and her license. I tried calling the police but after waiting 2.5 hours they didn't show up, so we decided to just leave and go through their insurance. I filed a claim through their insurance the same day, spoke to her insurance again the next day. They let me know that the driver admitted fault, but she's not under the car's insurance plan so they need to make contact with the named insured (her dad) to confirm she had permission to use the vehicle and they haven't gotten a hold of him yet. I followed up on Friday and they still haven't been able to get a hold of the named insured, I'm starting to get worried because it seems like he's avoiding at this point. What do I do if the dad ends up not making contact with his insurance company?
I do carry collision coverage with a $500 deductible, but I assume that I would only get reimbursed for this once their insurance admits liability. I'm also getting phone calls from attorneys offering help to seek extra money. Morally, I'm not sure how to feel about suing an 18 year old girl, but I also want to cover my own ass and ensure my car gets fixed.
Rear ended, driver not under car's insurance
byu/Long_Calligrapher_39 inInsurance
Posted by Long_Calligrapher_39
12 Comments
You file with your insurance company. Seems like there’s a coverage issue.
Attys aren’t going to sue the driver. They only care if you were injured and to obtain as much money as they can since they take 30% of it.
They won’t accept liability unless they can talk to their client. Depending on that conversation, they still might deny your claim. File in your collision. They’ll then work to get your deductible back. Unless you have significant injuries, you can actually lose money using a lawyer.
Those damn attorneys…stay away from them.
Did you obtain photos of both of your vehicles at the scene? Or a photo of her ID and Auto id card?
Some people don’t answer calls because they don’t know who’s calling. The carrier should really be calling the agents office and telling them to light a fire under their client.
If you know who her agent is (if it was listed on the auto ID card she gave you)…call them up.
I work for a large carrier and agents are directed to forward Claims info to Corp for us to handle…but when I can’t get ahold of a named insured, I loop in the agents office for assistance.
The insureds have a duty to report ALL claims to the carrier..so tipping the agents office off to the claim could help move things in the right direction for you
The other insurance carrier has a duty to their insured. So they’ll make every effort to speak to the father before accepting fault. And honestly, there is a chance that the claim would be denied. If the dad just never responds, they could deny. It’s possible that the daughter isn’t a covered driver. For example, if she lives with the father and the father chose to not list her on the policy, that could be grounds to deny the claim. So your choices are to keep waiting it out with them, or to file with your own carrier. And yes, in that case you’d pay your deductible up front. If the other party is determined to be at fault, your insurer may opt to try to get reimbursed for the claim from the other party. If and when they get that money – and it’s not guaranteed they will collect – they’d refund the deductible.
As for the lawsuit, that’s certainly your prerogative. But unless you have some injuries here, it’s not likely to make any sense to file a lawsuit. All it will do is cost you money. So are you actually hurt from this accident?
I would try to 3-way call with the adjuster through a different phone. It worked for me and caught the policy owner off guard and they admitted to the fault of someone who they let use the car.
Pretty shameful that cops wouldn’t show up. Isn’t that what we pay taxes for?
Whenever you’re in an accident, just call your insurance company. Let them handle it. That’s what you pay them for. You gain nothing from calling the other person’s insurance company and your insurance is still going to find out about it.
File the claim with your insurance and they will deal with their insurance
Unless the owner of the car says the car was used without permission their insurance will have to cover your loss.
If you continue to get abrun around, you could use your collision coverage- but you may never get back your deductible or it might take a couple years.
If the guy claims the car was used without permission you could ask for a copy of his police report for the girl stealing his car. That might get him to change his tune.
File through your own insurance to get a resolution. Continue following up until they either accept or send you a denial.
Call the police non-emergency line and request a report be written based on your previous call and their non-response. If insurance denies your claim because he’s non-responsive or claims she didn’t have permissive use, call the police and request charges be filed for driving without insurance.
18 yrs old. If a resident of household she is covered. If not a resident but a permissive user she is covered. Insd needs to cooperate or insurer may deny coverage on that basis,
They are stalling. Next time you call ask the rep why they are negotiating in bad faith, and tell them your next call will be to the state insurance commissioner.