Thanks again. I am going through treatment now, and will have test for my injury.
Apparently there is some nerve damage caused by the impact. My work requires active movement of upper body - the injury is imposing restriction on my work.
My car was not drivable after the accident. The sad part is the offender’s insurer is not cooperative at all.When situations turn for the better, I am going to report a complain against this particular insurer to organizations such as B.B.B.
Here’s a question I didn’t see asked yet but it is very important one; do you have collision insurance on this car? Your actions imply you do not but it’s worth clarifying.
Yes, I do have collision coverage.
Technically I can go to my insurer (with deductible), however, when it is clear who caused the accident, I demanded the offender’s insurer to cover all.
Thank you for your concern.
Again, you state it’s clear who caused the accident but who says that it’s clear?
The law, the courts, etc.?
Unless the other party has been cited and convicted of traffic violations nothing is clear; and even then it can be a toss-up.
Yes, you are right, even it is clear to me, the situation can take time to be settled. The witness is recorded on the police report, insurance agents visited to see the damage. I am discouraged by the dishonest offender who kept changing his story to protect himself, and his insurer who is unwilling to take up the cost of my loss. I feel as if the society treat the honest unfair at this point.
Stonewalling and foot-dragging is normal. My point being that if you had 10 eyewitnesses standing on the street corner and every one of them saw that the other party was at fault the other party’s insurance company can even put their foot down and say flat out we ain’t payin’. Sue us.
If the preponderance of the evidence is heavy enough the ins. co. may stall right up to the point where you have to go into court on it. Just be aware that if there’s any question on this at all you may not prevail. Juries can be funny sometimes.
My question remains though. Did the police cite the other person for this? If not, you’re in pretty murky water here and nothing is etched in stone.
I went through something like this about 20 years ago in which the other party made a left turn from the shoulder across 2 lanes (4 lane divided) to go back the other way and I broadsided them; totalling out my car.
The other party was cited by the police and their ins. co. told me to take a hike.
This led to a court case which I won, but it was pretty iffy up to the end. The other party gave 3 separate versions of what happened; one at the scene, one during interrogatories during an attorney fest, and another in court.
Even then, the jury ruled me as being 40% at fault for some goofy reason even though I was 10 MPH under the speed limit with little to no traffic around.
See what I mean about nothing being clear?
Good post, not to mention the insurance company may wait if the other driver was issued a ticket to see if it holds up in court. Let your insurance company do the work and get you back on the road. After I was rear ended that is what I did and the other insurance later made a settlement offer for medical.
Thank you for your information. As you mentioned, I have to be ready to fight for long time period, since there was only one witness.
The police report may not support my side enough. The offender came into an intersection at red light, while my side was green. My car was hit hard on the left rear corner, spun several times before stopped. The side air bag was deployed that saved me. Could the investigation by insurers tell who was at fault?
Being in pain, helpless without car, only resort was to seek an attorney.
In my experience the accident was not my fault and my insurance paid for the repairs and then went after the other person’s insurance company to recover payment - including the deductable I paid. So the cost to me was nothing but the time involved getting repairs.
The reason you pay your insurance premium is so they can handle all of these details for you.
Even the police did not cite the offender, is it possible for them to issue a ticket later?
A ticket will not be issued later unless there is a delay of some sort; waiting on test results for alchohol, drugs, etc.
Having an impartial witness who has no relationship to you and has a clean background can help if this ever does wind up in court.
It’s possible that an accident investigator can make an informed optinion about whose fault it was but these guys are often hired guns so to speak. One side’s investigator says one thing and the other side something else.
In my case, the physical evidence at the scene would have shown a blind man what happened. The other party was cited for an improper turn from the shoulder and both the city policeman and state trooper on scene also backed me up on this later when it went to court.
Even with that kind of ammunition, and the fact the defendant presented 3 different stories all under oath, the jury still came back and knocked the judgement down because of this ridiculous “40% my fault” thing.
The cop, the state trooper, and my attorney were in as much disbelief as I was.
After all of this, the ins. co. still had to pay out the maximum and outside the courtroom the defendant’s attorney offered me a lump sum to settle the remainder.
Since this was a fraction of what was owed and principles often come before cash with me, I told the attorney where to deposit the funds.
The attorney figured as much and already had bankruptcy papers filled out for his client. He marched right into the clerk’s office and filed them immediately.
Financially speaking, probably not smart on my part but morally speaking I felt good about it and never regretted that decision for one second.
Given the delay so far, it’s time you invoke your collision coverage and get things going. You may also get a better reception from your company’s claims adjuster concerning totalling the car.
I hope you have a good witness on who ran the red light. Otherwise explanations and investigations will go on for a long time,and may not yield a satisfactory result from your perspective.
There was only one witness who was stopping at the red light on opposite side from the offensive driver - he saw this car hit mine.
IN the meantime, I will talk to my attorney regarding my car whether to fix or total.
Many thanks.
When you are put into this misery, you feel totaly lost in misery. Thank you for your advice.
I don’t want this to get lost in the thread so I’ll post at the end-
If you have collision, you should go through your own insurance. If the other party is found to be at fault, your insurance company will recover their costs as well as your deductible from the other person’s insurance company. All you are out is the deductible for a short period. Your method means you will be without a car for a long, long time and there’s no guarantee you’ll be made whole again. Trust me, you don’t want to get into a protracted battle with the other insurance company. They have a distinct advantage- they can wait forever for a settlement. Can you?
Thank you for your posting. I was ready to do so through my insurer before my pain got worse. When I asked my insurer to assure that my premium would not go up just because my car was involved at no fault.
I was told the fact that my car was in accident could be a factor to increase the rate regardless whose fault it is.
I was at shock to hear that. Then, I decided to wait until the police report becomes available.
My point is that I shall not suffer higher rate, but my pain and lost wage should be compensated, let alone the actual car damage.
The offender thought I might give up - if I need to fight for justice, I am willing.
You should not be inconvenced for something that was not your fault. Several years something like this happened to my wife driving a 4 month old car with 6k on it. The other driver was at fault, but I did contact my agent, took down the info and said if you have any problems with them (the other insurance co) let me know.
It’s my understanding that most, if not all, insurance companies total a vehicle whose restraint system has deployed regardless of other damage to the vehicle
Not true at all. The reason many times it is totaled if air-bags deploy is because the cost to replace them exceeds the value of the car.
First off you can NOT DEMAND that they replace the car. You can suggest it and they may agree with you.
Totaling a vehicle can be a little tricky and usually not uniform across insurance companies. But usually if amount to fix the vehicle exceeds 80% of the cars worth then they’ll total it.
A couple of suggestions.
#1 - Get your insurance involved. Yes it was the other guys fault, but your insurance can put pressure on them.
#2 - Get a rental…And have the other insurance company pay for it. DEMAND you need a rental. This will force them to start things moving if they haven’t already. The cost of the rental will also weigh into the cost of repair.
#3 - Get more then one estimate. As YOUR insurance company who they recommend if you don’t know someone. The dealer is also a good place to start. Have them spell out in write EVERYTHING that needs to be fixed.
#4 - In the estimates DEMAND new parts. The car being so new…it shouldn’t be a problem. But make sure the estimates include REPLACING parts and NOT fixing them (i.e. Bondo).
#5 - Put pressure on the insurance company. Call them every day.
Chances are they are NOT going to total this car and give you a new one.
#6 - You can take the vehicle any place you want to for the repair. Example…If you have two bids…one for $9,000 and another for $8,000. The insurance company may give you $9,000…but you can take it to the place that said they’d do it for $8,000 and LEGALLY KEEP THE $1,000.
#7 - For a good repair shop…ask friends, relatives who they’ve done business with and if they were satisfied. Look for places that have been in business a long time. Have a knowledgeable friend come with you to check out collision centers. Also a good place to start is the dealership.
I’m completely taking you at your word that the other party ignored a traffic light but this situation sounds pretty hazy from here.
There is a chance this could turn into a he said/she said thing and you should keep in mind that a police report may only carry so much weight.
Anything stated in that report is up for argument and who’s to say the other party may not sue you for pain/sufferling/lost wages first.
Generally there is a 2 year statute of limitations so don’t expect to resolve this very quickly.
I concur. Some people enjoy the fight and emotion drain I think. Especially arm chair helpers.
However calling your insurance company and letting them deal is one way to go if you want to forget this incident happened and move on. Your insurnace company has a bunch of lawyers and experts used to dealing with other insurance companies.
A self hired attorney is needed if you feel the need to get compensated for your loss in more obscure ways.
Life is very short. My relatives did not like their insurance settlement proposal for an incident with home. They went through the entire court route 2 years latter and “won”. The insurance settlement paid + lawyers fee’s was about $2000 less than original settlement proposed. During that entire period they paid a mortgage on a home that was a pile of rubble with a chain link fence around and lived in a 3 br apartment.