I was in a car accident in Illinois where a guy rear ended me. There weren't any serious injuries – just the cars damaged. This is my first time ever being in a car accident, so I'm pretty lost and clueless on what to do.
The police on the scene asked us "Is everyone amiable? Are you guys willing to work this out amongst yourselves with your insurance?"(cant remember the exact wordings but it was something like that). Me being a meek and timid guy with social anxiety and who doesn't want to make things bigger or worse than it is and just want my car repaired said yes. I didn't know or realize that this translated to "Do you want us to make a police report?" (I didn't even realize this was an option as I assumed police will make reports for any incidents they encountered on the job or something like that). Or I was still under shock and it didn't register when they asked the question directly (it's possible but I don't really recall that ever happened) but the result is no police report was ever made. They just instructed us to call our insurance as soon as possible.
I was also pretty shook up that I didn't notice when we were exchanging contact info and insurance information that the guy who rear ended me was literally listed as an excluded driver in the insurance document he showed me. I only noticed this a few days later when I was reviewing the photos and videos I took.
I immediately called my insurance (progressive) and went through the claim process as soon as the police left us. (Didn't know that I should call the other guy's insurance and when I was told by family that that was an option, it was also at the time I saw that he was excluded and not sure if it was worth pursuing that option. Plus, progressive mentioned they'll be in contact with the other guy's insurance so I thought it was best to just let them handle it). After weeks of waiting, progressive called and said they found the guy who rear ended me to be the one at fault and they tried contacting the other party's insurance but as expected isn't covered since he's excluded.
The option progressive offered me at that point is that I go through with using my progressive claim for the car repair (since I told them I'll wait for their investigation first and see if they could get anything from the other guy's insurance before making a decision to use my claim). and they will send collections directly to the person who rear ended me but my concern and issue with that is it could still possibly impact my insurance premiums. The thing is, it's not just my insurance but my family's in name (my brother's specifically and I just got added to it) and they're all pretty fussed about how the premiums would end up higher even when I was deemed not at fault if we go through with this option. If it's just me, I wouldn't mind taking the bullet and just going with that option just to get my car fixed already – which I badly need for work. I'm not in the best terms with my family already before this incident and this event is putting more pressure in that relationship. They're already pissed about the mistakes I've made handling the matter (no police report, not noticing the other guys is an excluded driver etc.) So I'm stuck on what to do next.
Family is suggesting I get a lawyer but is that practical? I went to the ER after the accident just to be safe and there weren't any injuries other than me being sore for a few days from the whiplash and I didn't even bother with the pain medication they prescribed since I have a high pain tolerance and didn't want to miss work from being loopy. So medical injuries and cost aren't a thing. Plus like I mentioned, there's no police report. So going with that option might make things even more complicated.
So it's really just the car repair cost as the issue. I'm just looking for advice as things are getting more complicated than I want it to. I just want to get it repaired and things to go back to normal without it impacting my family's insurance and make it feel to them that "they're being punished when the other guy is at fault and he's getting away with it". Sorry for the incoherent rambling. English isn't my first and best language and I'm just a mess.
I was rear ended by an excluded driver. I have questions.
byu/firelequin inInsurance
Posted by firelequin
9 Comments
A lawyer isn’t going to change the fact that the company won’t pay if the guy is excluded.
A lawyer won’t, generally, take a PD only case. Throw on top that the guy has no insurance. You’re really going to have a hard time to find someone to take this case.
The best insurance option here is let Flo take care of it and then go after the guy.
I don’t know what you were supposed to do about the guy being excluded, that’s a little hard to make sure the who hit you is insured before he hits you.
So, there is a chance that the rates could go up for pursuing the claim, maybe not. I would just pursue the repairs on the policy and then let whatever rate changes happen. Honestly… You did not really make any mistakes that I can see. A police report would not change anything as the guy would still be excluded, you noticing the excluded driver does not change anything. What does your family think that you doing these things would change?
You could get a lawyer, but that will not change that the guy is excluded. IF anything, the attorney would pursue your policy for coverage if you have anything that would provide coverage like uninsured coverage for bodily injury or first party medical coverage like medical payments/personal injury protection.
There is literally nothing you could have done to change this outcome. The guy was excluded and hit you. No police report or anything will change that. Get your car repaired under the policy, if the rates go up, then they go up. The other guy will not necessarily get away with it, your insurance will pursue him for damages.
If you have the other party info you can usually still file a civilian police report (check with your local pd, sometimes it’s as easy as filling out a form online) but it doesn’t change any of the outcome other than adding a paper trail.
There is truly only one option here if you cannot pay for the repairs yourself out of pocket and that is to file with your own insurance carrier and have them pursue the uninsured/excluded driver for payment.
Because you were not the at-fault party you should not be surcharged but the claim does show for 3-5 years on your insurance record and follows you if you move onto your own insurance policy. I’d say worst-case scenario is you lose a claims/accident-free discount on the existing policy.
A police report really wouldn’t have changed much in terms of insurance. The police report isn’t going to force anybody to pay anything. Insurance makes all determinations as far as that goes. And since this person is apparently excluded, the other insurance carrier will not cover this loss.
So you really have 2 main options. File a claim with your carrier, or forego insurance and sue this other driver.
If you go through your insurance, you’ll pay your deductible. It will be a claim on your policy. It may or may not affect your rates – only your insurance carrier would know. Your insurance may try to go after this other driver for reimbursement via subrogation. If and when they get that money – which is NOT guaranteed – they’d refund your deductible.
If you opt to sue this person, be prepared to do it yourself in small claims court. There are no punitive damages to collect here. So without injuries, you’re only able to collect the cost to repair your car. And that’s assuming you’re able to collect a judgment from this other driver. If they have no money or assets, there’s nothing to collect. And you’d still need to pay your lawyer. Hence, most lawyers will refuse to take this type of case. There’s nothing in it for them.
If it were me? I’d file with my insurance, get my car fixed, and consider it a bonus if insurance is able to subrogate and get my deductible back.
There is no coverage available. Period. An attorney cannot create coverage out of thin air. If you have your own collision coverage, open a claim with your own carrier.
if it’s an excluded driver you’re not getting anything from the other car’s insurance, should just file on your own policy.
if you’re lucky they’ll be able to collect your deductible and reimburse it too.
whether the rates go up for a not-at-fault claim is dependent on state law. and of course they can also pull discounts without technically hiking your rate. realistically i would expect the rate to go up by some amount on renewal, but it’s probably still cheaper than repairing the car out of pocket.
Ask your company if it can go on the Uninsured or similar. It is clearly better than most of the other coverages you have for lesser impact.
As for the medical care, you are entitled to reasonable medical treatment. A cursory check is probably just that, but do not expect $15k just for going to the ER. Realistically, you can probably expect dollar for dollar reimbursement and that is about it.
One of the things you need to do is go talk to the Police and report that it was an Excluded driver who hit you… no insurance. Ask them if they will bring some charges because someone like that deserves to be hit with a minimum of a traffic ticket at least. Ideally they would stop folks from driving without valid insurance. It is people like this that raise everybody’s rates.
I dont know why your family would be mad at you for not noticing if the other was excluded at the time. It makes no difference to your situation. Getting a lawyer would also not be worth it at all. The other dude may not have any/much assets to go after, lawyers are expensive, and it takes time. Lawyers may not even be interested in the case since you dont have much bodily injury. If they are mad at you, they are mad at the wrong person.
If the car owner allowed the excluded driver to take the car, you would pursue the car owner in court. The owner either pays up or claims the car was stolen by excluded driver, in which case driver is arrested for auto theft.
Whether it’s worth it for you to pursue or not only you can determine.