by "TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
Published 12/19/2017 at 11:28
by "TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
Published 12/19/2017 at 11:28
No Tags
STARS: 0
So, I posted about getting rear-ended a few weeks ago. Trying to get this situation resolved is getting ridiculous. Here’s what’s happened so far.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
The runaround started after I contacted The General regarding their insured. They took my information and said they would contact their insured to get his side of the story. I asked for a rental and they said they couldn’t help until they talked to their insured and he accepted responsibility or they got their hands on a police report. Yeah, you can guess what happened next. They couldn’t reach their insured.
A week passed and the police report was posted. The State of Louisiana does a good job with these. Once a report is ready, it can be downloaded immediately after paying a small fee. I contacted The General and let them know it was available. They said they couldn’t find it. I provided a link and took screen shots as I walked through the ordering process. They said they put in an order. Wait, what? For some reason, they can’t download the file. They must wait 4-6 weeks for a hard-copy to be delivered to them. But if I happen to have a copy, they are happy to accept it.
So I sent them a copy.
That should get the ball rolling! The report clearly states their insured is at fault. It states that he received a citation for following too close. It states that he hit me from behind!
But no!!! The General has to wait 10 days from the time their insured receives a certified letter asking for his response to the claim. If he doesn’t respond, then they will agree to pay. But if he contests it, then it may take months to get this claim settled.
So, I did what I really didn’t want to do. I had to file a claim with my own insurance company. Now I have to fight with them about getting the right size rental while they fight it out with The General.
How much damage is it, you ask? The initial assessment was $3,800. The body shop opened it up and stopped writing after identifying an additional $8,000 in damage. They said that they would need to cut out the floor pan from in front of the middle seats to the back bumper, realign both sides, and then weld in a new floor pan. Then they would be able to address the wrinkled quarter panel, replace the hatch, and replace the bumper, etc. Oh, and that estimate doesn’t include the malfunctioning rear wiper, backup camera, backup sensors, and blind spot sensors.
Yeah, we’re looking at a new car.
If you happen to talk to Shaq, tell him The General sucks.
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
12/19/2017 at 11:33, STARS: 1
I’ve never been in this type of situation, but I believe my new standard response once I start to hear some bs goes like this, “Okay, I understand. You’ll be be talking to my lawyer from now on.”
What new car are you getting?
"450X_FTW" (mistermic)
12/19/2017 at 11:37, STARS: 0
Did having a trailer hitch installed make the damage from the accident worse? Ask because I always have a hitch on my truck, in the event I am rear ended, the thought being it will damage their car more than my truck. But now after looking at your picture, I’m worried that will do some frame twisting damage.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
12/19/2017 at 11:40, STARS: 4
You get what you pay for when it comes to insurance.... and yeah, its YOUR insurance company’s job to deal with the accused party’s. That’s what you pay them for. It won’t affect your rates, especially when its clearly not you that’s at fault.
Enjoy your new car!
Make sure they give you appropriate value for the car in PRE-CRASH condition.
"Where have all the lightweights gone?" (sniderjadam09)
12/19/2017 at 11:41, STARS: 2
I’ve been in this situation before. I have Travelers, and they went to bat for me when this happened. I had someone pull out in front of me in between semis, giving me no room to stop. It turns out she was driving a friend’s car, and that further complicated the fact her friend had crappy insurance.
I tried playing nice with the crappy insurance company until they wanted me to take my car to some ghetto body shops 20+ miles away from me. Once that happened, I informed Travelers what was going on. They told me to go to their approved shop, and they would handle the rest.
It took a year of Travelers battling it out, but I didn’t worry a single bit through the entire time.
"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
12/19/2017 at 11:47, STARS: 0
I’m assuming it’s because the trailer was hit.
"450X_FTW" (mistermic)
12/19/2017 at 11:49, STARS: 0
Ah likely. When I looked at the picture I honestly assumed it happened before the trailer was hooked up, and he needed to tow before the repairs were made
"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
12/19/2017 at 11:50, STARS: 1
In a normal impact the trailer hitch wouldn’t make a difference. An impact to a trailer though forces all these energy through the hitch through.
"Svend" (svend)
12/19/2017 at 11:51, STARS: 0
Wow, that’s messed up but as soon as their insurance started giving the run around I would of been on the phone to my insurance.
When our car was hit while parked, we contacted our insurance, the set up for it to go in for a quote, a few days later we took it to the repair shop, a guy came from the car rental place to pick us up to go to the rental shop, signed a form and gave a few details and left with a cat for a few days. Simples.
"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
12/19/2017 at 11:53, STARS: 2
I think this case is an extreme. Since the trailer was hit all of the force from the collision was directed straight through the hitch directly forward. It also put a lot of torque on the hitch which you can see with the ball being bent forward. Whereas if someone hit you without a trailer they most likely hit your bumper too and slide under the hitch a bit so the force is distributed more and not all directly inline with the hitch and there is not much torque being applied with a direct collision.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/19/2017 at 11:55, STARS: 0
That’s a tough question. I have been asking my wife what she wants and she is having a hard time making up her mind. She was thinking of getting something to be handed down to my son in a few years, but he wants a truck. She doesn’t really want to drive a truck around, so I don’t know.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/19/2017 at 11:58, STARS: 1
This was a factory hitch, not aftermarket. Factory means that it isn’t a bolt-on underneath the vehicle , the receiver is integrated into the bumper.
The force was transferred from the trailer, through the hitch, into the receiver. With all of it concentrated into one point, the structural damage was massive.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/19/2017 at 12:03, STARS: 0
Despite what they say, a claim is a claim and it will affect our insurance rates. I used to be an insurance agent. I have some insight on how the system works.
At this point, it’s worth it. It’s been 24 days since the wreck and we’ve received a grand total of NOTHING.
The thing that really sucks is that the Explorer was nearly paid off. With the market value less than half the cost of something new, we will have to buy used or we will be making payments for another few years. This is NOT what we wanted.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
12/19/2017 at 12:06, STARS: 2
So sue for full replacement value. Its the American way.
And of all the not-at-fault accidents we’ve been in our rates never went up, even when we sent our Ins. after the other party’s Ins.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/19/2017 at 12:06, STARS: 1
That was how we dealt with my car last year.
T his time around is a bit more complicated. Our insurance covers a rental, but doesn’t cover a similar vehicle. We have to get authorization from the adjuster to get an SUV for a rental. It should be covered since the cost will be subrogated, but it’s another hoop we have to jump through. If my insurance refuses to cover it, I have to pay out of pocket and go after the other insurance company for compensation.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
12/19/2017 at 12:19, STARS: 0
We have had to deal with this too. Thank goodness for USAA.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/19/2017 at 12:25, STARS: 1
We had to pull the pin and slide the hitch out of the receiver to get things disconnected. With the front of the trailer under the back end of the Explorer, there was no way to lift it off the ball. Since the trailer was loaded, we had to have a tow truck to first lift the trailer so everything could be disconnected, then tow the trailer to the storage unit to be offloaded.
"diplodicus" (diplodicus)
12/19/2017 at 12:38, STARS: 0
You know what’s crazy is that the wire loom in those things is one piece. So if it’s damaged everything in the car has to come out to swap in a new one. Saw it on justrolledintotheshop.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/19/2017 at 12:43, STARS: 1
Aw, dang.
The same is true for airbag sensors. When the bags went off in my WRX last year, they replaced every airbag shock sensor in the car.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
12/19/2017 at 13:52, STARS: 1
UGGHHHHH!!! That friggin’ sucks! Sorry you’ve gotta deal with all that.
I can’t say I’m surprised to hear that the General sucks.
"RacingShark" (racingshark)
12/19/2017 at 14:05, STARS: 1
wow. I had some trouble earlier this year when I was hit by someone. The insurance they gave me was long expired. Luckily, their old insurance company did some work and tracked down the new one. The new one looked over my car and wrote me a check in less than 3 days. Sorry you had to deal with such a crap company. Let your insurance handle it.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/19/2017 at 15:12, STARS: 2
When this is over, I’d send a looooong communication to the state insurance commission about how poorly this was handled. It won’t get you anything, but you’ll get some satisfaction knowing it’ll probably cause some problems for the insurance company.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/19/2017 at 15:17, STARS: 1
I was thinking a twitter-storm over to Shaq.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/19/2017 at 15:26, STARS: 2
