Insurance claim woes

"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove) 09/09/2019 at 23:34 • Filed to: I have right of way in my own lane

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image grabbed from the web

Back on July 27, I had a guy hit me at the Indianapolis airport while he was trying to edge in front of me in the pick up lanes. I had decided to try and claim it through his insurance, State Farm. I figured that it was so obvious with the pics the cop took and the position of the damage that he hit me that perhaps I could short cut to not having to file with my insurer and deal with the deductible.

I was naive, and I should have just started with my insurer, as CarsofFortLangley pointed out. I got a message from State Farm saying they were denying my claim because the other guy, their insured, said he was already in the lane and stopped when I moved into him. That’s not possible given the position of the cars and the fact that his front hit my side. So, now I have to go to USAA and file a claim on my insurance . But first, I’m going to respond aggressively to State Farm. It will give me satisfaction, and perhaps there is a small possibility they will reconsider.

The last time my wife’s van was hit, it was by a teen who clearly plowed into her from a stop sign. At the time, the kid’s dad’s insurer tried to say that my wife could have done something to avoid the collision and so was denying responsibility. I pointed out all the evidence to the contrary and ended up telling the agent that if they thought they could prevail with that theory in arbitration, then good luck. They changed their tune and paid up in full. It was also kind of fun.

GLiddy > Chariotoflove 09/09/2019 at 23:49

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These insurance companies are really shitty about claims these days. I got a complete denial from the company that insured the car that the teen who totaled my Lexus was driving. While it was his car and he was driving it to work, the company claimed that the only insured driver was his mother and he did not have permission to drive it. Therefore, I’m screwed and had to claim on my insurance and even my insurance made no attempt to go after either him, his mother, or their insurance. (Good2Go). I also got nowhere near what my car was worth as I tried to take that check and find the exact same Lexus and they were all garbage cars. I figure I lost $3-4k on the whole deal.

At least I learned how penniless teens manage to get cars and not get insurance hassles. They get one of those horrible “we insure anyone” TV companies that have all the cartoon ads and they buy a policy  with the best risk person named as the only driver and then they can prove insurance on the car but in the case of an accident they can walk away scot free and the shit insurance company denies the claim based on their lies.

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > Chariotoflove 09/09/2019 at 23:50

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I’m still dealing with insurance from both the hits this year. It’s been a long few  months.

dogisbadob > Chariotoflove 09/09/2019 at 23:51

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nice Astra

I don’t think they offered it in gray over here :p

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Chariotoflove 09/09/2019 at 23:52

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Diagrams and scene photos (google street view /earth) are your friend!

fhrblig > Chariotoflove 09/09/2019 at 23:54

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Man, that sucks. I'm starting to think I was incredibly lucky that everything went as well with my claim last year, but there was no way the kid who I hit could try to say it wasn't his fault (and to his credit he owned up to it right away).

facw > Chariotoflove 09/10/2019 at 00:00

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Yeah, I don’t think it matters, since I’m in a no-fault state, but I would want to do everything through my insurer anyway, the other insurance company seems way less likely to play games with a huge insurance company (and one they probably have to deal with frequently) than a random guy.

Best of luck getting it worked out.

smobgirl > Chariotoflove 09/10/2019 at 00:03

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It took 9 months all told to get the money sorted out when a private plow truck hit my legally parked Fiat in the office parking lot. The plow company insurance tried to short change me and I eventually had to drag my insurance in, but   my deductible was returned so I presume they were successful.

It’s such a pain to deal with and I hope they figure their shit out quickly with yours.

Chariotoflove > GLiddy 09/10/2019 at 00:07

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That’s scummy. I’m sorry you got caught in that. 

Chariotoflove > smobgirl 09/10/2019 at 00:08

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Thanks. That’s a horror story. I was trying to avoid even paying my deductible and have to get it back. I was probably just wasting my time. 

Chariotoflove > facw 09/10/2019 at 00:09

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Thanks. Yeah, USAA knows what they’re doing. I’ll have to let them do their stuff. 

Chariotoflove > fhrblig 09/10/2019 at 00:10

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When they do that it’s easy. If more people would do that, the process would be way easier. 

Chariotoflove > BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo 09/10/2019 at 00:10

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No doubt.  I’m sorry you have to go through that twice in one year. 

Chariotoflove > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/10/2019 at 00:12

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For sure. To bad the guy pulled his car back from me immediately. And he was actually stuck in my fender by his bumper. 

Chariotoflove > dogisbadob 09/10/2019 at 00:13

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I  thought everything was offered in gray these days. Seems we can’t get away from it.

smobgirl > Chariotoflove 09/10/2019 at 00:13

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Yeah, I thought the same. I actually ended up with HR involved and everything since the plow company was part of our building management. S he was irritated because I’d said I wouldn’t go through my insurance but that was before they were trying to stiff me for like $1500 of the repairs. People are just jerks, but I’m sure things will go better once you’ve got your insurance behind you.

Chariotoflove > smobgirl 09/10/2019 at 00:15

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Your own company didn’t even want to stand up for you against their contractor?!  What shit bags!  

Grindintosecond > Chariotoflove 09/10/2019 at 00:23

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Wait till some other asshats hit each other and spin into you, the innocent bystander. A whole year to get my deductable out of one of em cause they both denied responsibility. She turned suddenly in  front of traffic who was running the yellow cause she panicked and didn't want to get stuck in a red. I don't care just gimme my money.

Chariotoflove > Grindintosecond 09/10/2019 at 00:27

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Fuuuuuu...

DipodomysDeserti > Chariotoflove 09/10/2019 at 00:49

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My wife got t-boned by a red light runner six or so years ago. Unfortunately the other person had the same insurance as us, so they said it was both their faults, thus ensuring double deductible payments. My wife also had to gonto the hospital as she was pregnant at the time and started having contractions as a result of the accident.

My wife was making a left and they tried the whole “anyone making a left is automatically at fault bs”. Thankfully a very well known local corporate lawyer, who is also on the Arizona Board of Regents and a member of a fairly well known local family saw the whole thing. He left his card and ended up writing a very nice letter on our behalf to the insurance company (free of charge!).  They cut me a check the day after receiving his letter.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > smobgirl 09/10/2019 at 00:51

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Oh man, that is a terrible situation. One of my cars was once hit while it was parked by an also (formerly) parked tow truck that rolled away down the street . It pushed my car back into my suburban that was parked behind it on the street . That process was terrible, and just before I started suing folks I filed with my own company just to see what they would offer. They ended up offering me enough to call the lawyers off, and eventually they settled with the tow truck’s insurance company and I got my deductibles back like six months later.

I’ll have to do a proper Oppo write up on that sometime (complete with bad potato pics from 2009) , as the whole story is a trip.

McMike > Chariotoflove 09/10/2019 at 05:42

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I’m five weeks into a not-at-fault claim, and I swear to god this is so overly complicated. So many moving parts. So many adjusters. There is even a third party agency my health insurance uses to collect money from the insurance companies. Some of my medical claims are still pending because it was flagged with an “accident.” and they are trying to not pay it. I have to sign forms, return them to my insurance company so they can contact my doctors and get payment.

I think this is the pain & suffering they are always talking about.

Hope you get this sorted out.  What a pain in the ass.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Chariotoflove 09/10/2019 at 07:32

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That sucks, man. I’ve had pretty good luck with a claim through State Dar (the insurance of the person who hit me) paying through, though it takes fooorrrever. Hope it all ends up okay. 

Chariotoflove > DipodomysDeserti 09/10/2019 at 09:55

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That’s what you need. 

Chariotoflove > McMike 09/10/2019 at 09:59

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Thanks. Yes, being insured does not give you the warm blanket feeling of protection Dennis Hastert’s voice would like you to believe. 

Chariotoflove > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 09/10/2019 at 10:01

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Thanks. I’m just going to have to work harder for it. :/

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > fhrblig 09/10/2019 at 10:42

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We had a really smoother process earlier this year too; the lady who hit my wife(the lady pulled away from a stop sign as my wife was going through the intersection without a stop sign) was pretty frazzled and admitted fault like four times. To orient the lady my wife was like “my insurance card says exactly what to do, it’s okay, let’s just follow the steps ”. She flips over the card and it says “don’t admit fault” at the top. My wife skipped that part as she reviewed with the lady what they were going to do.

Between her admitting fault and having an expired license , I don’t think their insurance company could really “fight” much. So it was incredibly smooth.

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > Chariotoflove 09/10/2019 at 13:02

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It took 7 months for us to get our deductible back from insurance after I got hit by a red light runner, even after I had a witness, photos, and the other driver admitted fault to the police.

Best of luck, insurance sucks.

Chariotoflove > dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford 09/10/2019 at 14:16

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Ugh. That’s what I had hoped to avoid and what I am bracing for. But first I’m going to send a very aggressive letter to State Farm because it will make me feel better. 

Steve in Manhattan > Chariotoflove 09/10/2019 at 14:20

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I have been involved with insurance companies both as a lawyer and a human being. They collect premiums and deny claims. On some claims, the instructions are to deny it initially full stop. If enough people give up at that stage, it’s a win for them.

Chariotoflove > Steve in Manhattan 09/10/2019 at 14:26

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I’m sure that’s true. It’s part of the business model. 

Steve in Manhattan > Chariotoflove 09/12/2019 at 18:43

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Count on it. And these are the words: “I have heard your initial denial of the claim, now I need to talk to someone else so I can appeal it. I also need to know the name of the law firm you would use to defend so I can serve them directly.”

Chariotoflove > Steve in Manhattan 09/12/2019 at 18:46

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The words I used with the rep the last time I had this issue were something like, “Well, if you think in the face of all this  evidence that you can prevail at arbitration with that argument, then good luck.”

It worked.

Steve in Manhattan > Chariotoflove 09/13/2019 at 20:02

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That’s a good response - they’re going to have a lawyer whether it’s a trial or an arbitration - usually when you serve them a document demand, they cave.

Chariotoflove > Steve in Manhattan 09/13/2019 at 20:21

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Thanks, that heartens me. I’m guessing the only way to get them to cave is if they realize it’s cheaper for them to do so.

Steve in Manhattan > Chariotoflove 09/15/2019 at 17:58

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You have to be able to judge - sometimes it’s easy, as the defendant is judgment proof (no money, no prospects ). It’s often clear, but sometimes it’s not. But if it’s a big fat insurance company ...