I was recently involved in an accident where I was deemed not at fault. The driver was renting the car from the vehicle's owner. When I reached out to Allstate to file a claim using the police report, I discovered that the vehicle owner is not the policyholder.
I do have the policy number, and the last name matches what they have on file, but they are refusing to proceed because I don't have the policyholder's first name. I've exhausted all my options except involving my own insurance, but since I only have liability coverage and the damages are not significant, I'd prefer not to go that route.
Is that right? I live in Georgia and didn't know you needed the first and last name to proceed.
I also have other information related to the vehicle and the owner. They still won't proceed. Any advice?
Allstate won't let me file a claim
byu/zaVinci21 inInsurance
Posted by zaVinci21
5 Comments
Your insurance should be able to pull all information to file the claim on your behalf.
Very odd that you said you were deemed not at fault but have yet to even file a claim for them to start their investigation. Police reports don’t determine fault. Without video footage or a witness statement, it could be a word versus word. If they don’t even contact their insurance company or speak with their insurance company, the insurance company could also deny.
This is why it’s important to carry first party coverage
If they were renting it from the owner then Allstate is probably going to deny the claim anyway. That makes it “commercial” and the owner most likely doesn’t have that coverage. As it is just get a copy of the police report, the owners name should be on it. Also consider small claims court for both the owner and the driver to recoup some loney
Just file the claim anyway – send them a notice of claim in the form of a letter along with a copy of the police report, pics of your damages, and any other relevant info. Send it certified mail, return receipt requested to Allstate Insurance Company, PO Box 660636, Dallas, TX 75266 . You have the policy number and the license plate and the driver info and the registration/owner info – all of that should be in the police report. That’s enough for Allstate to do whatever they have to do. Don’t submit via an app or online portal, don’t call them. Literally send them a receipt-trackable letter with all supporting info. Someone in the company opens those letters and enters it all into their system.
You may get a denial letter based on the facts here – driver renting the car (sound like Turo), which is likely not covered without a special endorsement. But make them go through the normal claims handling process to do so.
You can always sue the driver and owner in small claims court and they’ll almost certainly turn it over to their carrier to defend (who will likely just try to settle the claim quickly if there’s coverage). Costs a few bucks and takes a few hours, but it’s not that hard to do. Might not be worth the time and trouble if the damages are minor, but that’s up to you.
And, yes, with liability coverage only, your insurance isn’t going to do anything for you here.
You hosed yourself with the minimal coverage. Now your only choice is suing the driver and owner in state court and making the case using the local civil jury instructions and case law. This will be 0% fun and you have uncertain chances at best of collecting on the judgment. Get ready to pay out of pocket for a replacement vehicle.
Was the driver renting the vehicle from the owner through Turo, by chance?