Frustrated!

[iowagirl]

My son was in an accident in December and I am dealing with the insurance company of the person at fault. They are refusing to accept full responsibility. I really lost my temper with the lady today about it. They claim that even when you are the highway you need to slow down at every intersection and that he should have been more aware of the surroundings when the girl who went thru the stop sign came from an intersection where there is a retaining wall and there was no way he could see her coming. She crossed north bound traffic and ended up in the south bound traffic lane and he swerved to not t-bone her and hit the rear quarter panel of her car essentially saving the life or injury of her passenger. They are also claiming he didn't do enough to prevent the accident even though she had no control of her vehicle. The car is on his dad's policy and they told me they would not help recover the money because he doesn't carry collision insurance. Both are well known companies.

I told the lady I wanted her to petition the State to put stop signs at every intersection of the highway if this is the case. I don't think I could work for a company that has no integrity and encourages their employees to screw innocent people out of the money to repair their vehicles. We are not asking for any more than the repairs.

Now I have to come up with money I don't have to purchase another vehicle since their payout is going to be so low. Its not worth the attorney fees to sue them but I do know they already have a class action suite pending against them for similar issues, not sure its close enough to get in on that.

Any advice? Anything to make me feel better? If not thanks for listening to me blow off steam about it.

[J Boogie]

Its not worth the attorney fees to sue them but I do know they already have a class action suite pending against them for similar issues, not sure its close enough to get in on that.

You don't pay those fees if you win.  They do.  I'd go for it if you've got a good case.  If not for you and your son, for everyone that might deal with that insurance company in the future.  Not a lawyer, but I find the presence of an existing case weakens their credibility.

[EmpireOfDirt]

My son was in an accident in December and I am dealing with the insurance company of the person at fault. They are refusing to accept full responsibility. I really lost my temper with the lady today about it. They claim that even when you are the highway you need to slow down at every intersection and that he should have been more aware of the surroundings when the girl who went thru the stop sign came from an intersection where there is a retaining wall and there was no way he could see her coming. She crossed north bound traffic and ended up in the south bound traffic lane and he swerved to not t-bone her and hit the rear quarter panel of her car essentially saving the life or injury of her passenger. They are also claiming he didn't do enough to prevent the accident even though she had no control of her vehicle. The car is on his dad's policy and they told me they would not help recover the money because he doesn't carry collision insurance. Both are well known companies.

I told the lady I wanted her to petition the State to put stop signs at every intersection of the highway if this is the case. I don't think I could work for a company that has no integrity and encourages their employees to screw innocent people out of the money to repair their vehicles. We are not asking for any more than the repairs.

Now I have to come up with money I don't have to purchase another vehicle since their payout is going to be so low. Its not worth the attorney fees to sue them but I do know they already have a class action suite pending against them for similar issues, not sure its close enough to get in on that.

Any advice? Anything to make me feel better? If not thanks for listening to me blow off steam about it.

Was there anything marking the intersection: yield sign, flashing yellow light, anything? It sounds like the cross-street had a stop sign for the girl.

[dandarc]

Sorry - that sucks.  Suppose you could try to represent yourselves in small claims court against the other driver.

Advice going forward - if repairing / replacing the vehicle is going to be a large financial problem for you, you should have comp and collision coverage on the car, unless it is extremely expensive.  So replace with a cheap car, or get comp/collision on the new one, maybe both.

[Neustache]

Why isn't your insurance company dealing with them instead of you?  They are just hoping you are clueless and will go away.  Get your company on them and/or consult with an attorney. 

[iowagirl]

No, nothing for him. The highway runs thru the edge of a small town which he was going thru under the speed limit due to weather conditions. Every road east/west road comes out on that highway thru town. Everyone has a stop sign. There is not stop sign on that highway for over 100 miles until it comes to 4 lane highway about 10 miles south of there.

Here is a google earth image of the intersection facing north. He was headed south and she came from the east.

[iowagirl]

Why isn't your insurance company dealing with them instead of you?  They are just hoping you are clueless and will go away.  Get your company on them and/or consult with an attorney.

They told me they weren't going to do anything about it. I've been on the phone with both of them.

[dandarc]

What's the speed limit on that road?  Don't see any signs in the picture, and it looks like a residential area, so 25?

If I read right, that black car on the left could be your son, and the scene is a few seconds before the other driver came flying through from the right?

Another thought - were there any injuries?  If you have medical or PIP coverage, that might be covered under your car insurance, and maybe your insurer would be acting differently if they had some skin in the game?

[iowagirl]

It is 35 thru there. He was going 30 because of snow. Yes that car would be like him driving. He hit the passenger rear of her car after he swerved trying to miss her. No injuries thanks to him swerving. If he had not her passenger would have been hurt.

[iowagirl]

There is a stop sign coming from the road on the right. Its hard to see in the picture but I couldn't get it to zoom in any better than that.

[AZDude]

Was there a police report? Who was cited? If your son was not cited, but the other driver was I would say you have a very good case. If there was no police report or the police cited both drivers, then you are screwed.

As far as your insurance company, if you chose not to have collision coverage then they are not going to cover anything. You knew that when you elected to have liability only. Sucks, but that is why collision coverage exists.

[EmpireOfDirt]

Seems like a real mess. Sorry to hear about it.

How is your son handling it?

[J Boogie]

http://www.all-about-car-accidents.com/resources/accidents/car-accidents/filing-a-third-party-claim-

[iowagirl]

Was there a police report? Who was cited? If your son was not cited, but the other driver was I would say you have a very good case. If there was no police report or the police cited both drivers, then you are screwed.

As far as your insurance company, if you chose not to have collision coverage then they are not going to cover anything. You knew that when you elected to have liability only. Sucks, but that is why collision coverage exists.

The father of the girl driving didn't want the police called and took care of things on his own. He was a lot closer than I was so I didn't get there until after the fact. My son who didn't know better does now. He's mad about his car not being fixed yet but other than that he's fine. The car isn't worth much (very sore subject to get into) but it runs. Not worth having collision on. But you pay insurance to have them help you recover damages even if they don't pay out for what ever reason. Its part of the services you pay for each month.

[Malum Prohibitum]

Is your son an adult?  Is he the owner of the car, and therefore the person damaged?

If so, have him sue the other driver and bring the estimates to court.  The insurance company will have to pay to defend their driver against the property damage claim.  It will be cheaper just to cut you the check for the full amount.

By the way, this is a common tactic for insurance companies.  They claim you bear fault in a situation in which only their insured bears the fault, and then want to adjust the amount of the check by your "percentage of fault."

Losing your temper is not going to do anything.   You must take action.

[DoubleDown]

I'd advise you retain an attorney and have him/her take appropriate action. I imagine with only one or two hours of work by the attorney (e.g., a demand letter letting the company know to pay up or they'll be sued) they can get it favorably resolved for you ASAP. You can let the attorney know there's a cap on time spent so it doesn't cost you much at all to get it resolved. Don't hire someone for a percentage of the settlement, just an hourly fee and keep it short.

Alternatively, you can ask to be put through to the company's legal department. When they answer, ask them for the address you should use to have notice served for your imminent lawsuit. They ALWAYS ask what this is about, and you can briefly explain. I'd say 99% of the time their own legal department will pull the levers necessary to get your problem resolved, as they really abhor defending lawsuits -- lots of unnecessary time and expense on their part. I've used this tactic several times, always gets things resolved. But take note that this do-it-yourself approach might end up being penny-wise but pound-foolish, as an attorney may be able to get you a much better overall settlement.

[Juslookin]

What state are you in and did the accident happen in?

Iowa? Comparative negligence law, your recovery against the other party will be reduced by the percentage that you are assessed to be at fault.

Without collision coverage your insurance carrier will not help you. If they do not pay your collision claim they do not have the right of subrogation against the other party and will have no legal standing to pursue your damages. You are, with all due respect, wasting your time there.

What did they offer you? What percentage of fault did they assess on your son?

Will be practically impossible to find a lawyer willing to take this case on contingency, they stand to earn no money, they are only interested in injury cases.

And again, with all due respect to the previous poster who said to call the insurance carrier and threaten a law suit, insurance companies and insurance adjusters get sued all the time, one more lawsuit is not going to make a bit of difference.

Find out how much negligence they are assessing on your son, try to negotiate a lower negligence percentage and a higher settlement.

Disclaimer- I am not a lawyer and I am not offering legal advice, just chatting on a message board.

[MisterTwoForty]

Without a police report, you will not get paid.  He hit the rear portion of the car, which tells the insurance company that he 'could' have stopped.  I realize that's not the case due to the weather, but thats how they view it.

The lesson here is to always file a police report regardless of who is at fault.  Tell your son to never leave the scene of an accident without a police report. 

[golfreak12]

Every time I see one of these thread I'd remind myself to always call the police for a report.