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Car Accident Insurance Action

BlueGreySky

By BlueGreySky
in Can You Help Me With This?

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BlueGreySky

BlueGreySky 1032

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Posted (edited)

Was in my first wreck today.  Got plowed from behind (that's what she said) at a stoplight. Was actually hit by the guy the texter hit.  It was stoplight, car 1, car 2 (us), car 3, and the at-fault car 4 who was texting and slammed into the back of car 3, who hit us, and then our front bumper was fucked by car 1's hitch (no damage to car 1).

Police were called. Report filed. 100% 4's fault (we are not a no-fault state).  They have all his info as do I.

What's Surly's advice and things to watch out for?  I called my insurance to let them know and 4 already started a claim with his co, Travelers.

Is it best to go through my co or his? All 4 of us plan to visit Dr (wife, me, 8yo 8 month old) - I asked his adjuster what his PIP is, but no call back.  I know with medical you always have to think about current and future expenses.  Any more advice? 

Thanks in advance. 

Edited by BlueGreySky
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Clintonaldo

Clintonaldo 2576

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9 minutes ago, BlueGreySky said:

Was in my first wreck today.  Got plowed from behind (that's what she said) at a stoplight. Was actually hit by the guy the texter hit.  It was stoplight, car 1, car 2 (us), car 3, and the at-fault car 4 who was texting and slammed into the back of car 3, who hit us, and then our front bumper was fucked by car 1's hitch (no damage to car 1).

Police were called. Report filed. 100% 4's fault (we are not a no-fault state).  They have all his info as do I.

What's Surly's advice and things to watch out for?  I called my insurance to let them know and 4 already started a claim with his co, Travelers.

Is it best to go through my co or his? All 4 of us plan to visit Dr (wife, me, 8yo 8 month old) - I asked his adjuster what his PIP is, but no call back.  I know with medical you always have to think about current and future expenses.  Any more advice? 

Thanks in advance. 

With 3 cars you might run into a limits issue with his insurance. I always recommend to go through your insurance and let them subrogate. 

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BlueGreySky

BlueGreySky 1032

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Posted
2 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

1. Go get checked out by the doctor, if anyone is hurt, hire a lawyer and let them take care of it.

2. If no one is hurt then get your car fixed (paid for by insurance) and move on.

3. Don't listen to anyone else's BS on this thread.

4. Profit. 

Thanks, Hank. 

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

Posted
Posted

I've been licensed in most of the U.S. During my career,  but am rusty on most states besides TX.  What state are you in?  The chain of coverage should look something like this:

driver 4's liability, when that is exhausted,

your uninsured/underinsured coverage for bodily injury, when that is exhausted,

your pip (this can vary by state, as t'boo said, in TX, your pip is what would apply here, not theirs).  When that is exhausted,

your health insurance.

i hope the driver who caused this carries decent liability limits, and if they don't, I hope you carry decent uninsured/underinsured limits.  If either of those is true, you should be fine barring catastrophic injury, and if that was the case, I feel like you would've mentioned it.

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DanRydell

DanRydell 799

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Posted
1 hour ago, conVINCEd said:

I've been licensed in most of the U.S. During my career,  but am rusty on most states besides TX.  What state are you in?  The chain of coverage should look something like this:

driver 4's liability, when that is exhausted,

your uninsured/underinsured coverage for bodily injury, when that is exhausted,

your pip (this can vary by state, as t'boo said, in TX, your pip is what would apply here, not theirs).  When that is exhausted,

your health insurance.

i hope the driver who caused this carries decent liability limits, and if they don't, I hope you carry decent uninsured/underinsured limits.  If either of those is true, you should be fine barring catastrophic injury, and if that was the case, I feel like you would've mentioned it.

At least in Texas, you can submit the bills both to liability and PIP and double dip.

There's also no reason not to use your health insurance.

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3adays

3adays 454

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Posted

I’m in a similar situation. Filed with my insurance because there were 4 cars involved in the wreck and they felt they would get it resolved quicker. My car has been repaired, but I have 5K in medical bills that my PIP paid and about 1K in lost wages. I have an open claim with the at fault drivers insurance, but haven’t submitted by bills. Do I just submit them or do I need to include some kind of demand letter for “pain and suffering”? 

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Clintonaldo

Clintonaldo 2576

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11 hours ago, 3adays said:

I’m in a similar situation. Filed with my insurance because there were 4 cars involved in the wreck and they felt they would get it resolved quicker. My car has been repaired, but I have 5K in medical bills that my PIP paid and about 1K in lost wages. I have an open claim with the at fault drivers insurance, but haven’t submitted by bills. Do I just submit them or do I need to include some kind of demand letter for “pain and suffering”? 

I would submit and then call and ask what they are going to offer. You can always get them to go up from their first offer.  What company is it?

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Telegraph_it

Telegraph_it 3359

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Posted
On 9/19/2018 at 10:17 PM, conVINCEd said:

I've been licensed in most of the U.S. During my career,  but am rusty on most states besides TX.  What state are you in?  The chain of coverage should look something like this:

driver 4's liability, when that is exhausted,

your uninsured/underinsured coverage for bodily injury, when that is exhausted,

your pip (this can vary by state, as t'boo said, in TX, your pip is what would apply here, not theirs).  When that is exhausted,

your health insurance.

i hope the driver who caused this carries decent liability limits, and if they don't, I hope you carry decent uninsured/underinsured limits.  If either of those is true, you should be fine barring catastrophic injury, and if that was the case, I feel like you would've mentioned it.

This seems correct for my experience. Car rear ended me on 45 which caused a chain of events and a total of 5 cars were involved in the wreck. At fault person's policy was shit and did not even cover the complete damage to my car. My underinsured took over and covered the rest.

Things got interesting when the person I hit claimed medical and tried to go after my policy for medical. Anyway I never saw any paperwork on a payout so I guess that was all figured out in the end.

Definitely carry uninsured/underinsured with a decent limit. Chances are the people who rear end you have a history of doing so and their policy will suck. 

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ChickenSandwich

ChickenSandwich 9852

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Posted (edited)

I’m 60 days from being rear ended by yellow cab ( not that kind. Wasn’t a customer). They still have not assigned the claim and are fighting who is at fault even though it’s a slam dunk. I was asked to be a witness for the state against him and will testify on Friday. My insurance handled all repair and medical bills plus lost wages. 

I will attempt to get the other insurance to double dip. It’s truly a pain in the ass and don’t be surprised no matter how clear the police report is, when they dispute it and want to “investigate” 60 days after the fact. In the meantime I am a out of pocket for all expenses over my insurance limits (rental car etc). 

Good luck. 

Anyone know a good attorney who hates Yellow Cab?

Edited by ChickenSandwich
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3adays

3adays 454

Posted
Posted
On 9/20/2018 at 7:34 PM, Clintonaldo said:

I would submit and then call and ask what they are going to offer. You can always get them to go up from their first offer.  What company is it?

I submitted $5000 in medical bills and $1500 in lost wages. They offered $7000. I countered with $17,000 and she said she couldn’t do that. I told them I’d weigh my options and get back to them. Essentially they are only offering $500 in “pain and suffering”. Seems extremely low to me. Any thoughts on how far they’d be willing to go up? 

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Clintonaldo

Clintonaldo 2576

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1 minute ago, 3adays said:

I submitted $5000 in medical bills and $1500 in lost wages. They offered $7000. I countered with $17,000 and she said she couldn’t do that. I told them I’d weigh my options and get back to them. Essentially they are only offering $500 in “pain and suffering”. Seems extremely low to me. Any thoughts on how far they’d be willing to go up? 

That is low and she can come up. What was your treatment?

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Dances with Dachshunds

Dances with Dachshunds 30

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Posted

If you are in Texas, don't make the mistake and go to the big dog attorney in Houston. All talk, no bite. Was rear ended by an idiot while stopped at a red light, Oct last year. Wife's back is jacked up. I had issues for a couple of months.

Still no action. Been dicked around (long story) . Anybody know a good attorney that will actually work for me and not his commercials? I wont ever make that mistake again.

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Clintonaldo

Clintonaldo 2576

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7 hours ago, Dances with Dachshunds said:

If you are in Texas, don't make the mistake and go to the big dog attorney in Houston. All talk, no bite. Was rear ended by an idiot while stopped at a red light, Oct last year. Wife's back is jacked up. I had issues for a couple of months.

Still no action. Been dicked around (long story) . Anybody know a good attorney that will actually work for me and not his commercials? I wont ever make that mistake again.

They will settle with the other insurance company for pennies on the dollar about 2 days before the statute runs. 

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Grimas

Grimas 671

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Posted (edited)

So wife re-ended someone on the freeway (totally her fault) in her Merc and a claim has been submitted by the person she hit so I'll be taking a hit on my policy and premium... 

On our end, it was mostly plastic damage but the hood is buckled and will probably need to be replaced.  Insurance company gave me a list of "preferred" repair shops.  Is there any reason I shouldn't just take it to the dealer to get it fixed as opposed to one of these shops?  Most of the repairs will require new parts (bumper, grill) from the dealer anyways and I'm going to have to pay the deductible regardless of where I take it... (The damage shouldn't be enough to get it totaled...) 

(Pissed the car my wife hit had 8 people in it including a bunch of kids with no car seats yet the cop said he wouldn't give them a ticket for no seats so I'm sure my insurance will be paying out a bunch of on injury claims...)

Edited by Grimas
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31536

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Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, Grimas said:

So wife re-ended someone on the freeway (totally her fault) in her Merc and a claim has been submitted by the person she hit so I'll be taking a hit on my policy and premium...  On our end, it was mostly plastic damage but the hood is buckled and will probably need to be replaced.  Insurance company gave me a list of "preferred" repair shops.  Is there any reason I shouldn't just take it to the dealer to get it fixed as opposed to one of these shops?  Most of the repairs will require new parts (bumper, grill) from the dealer anyways and I'm going to have to pay the deductible regardless of where I take it... (The damage shouldn't be enough to get it totaled...)  (Pissed the car my wife hit had 8 people in it including a bunch of kids with no car seats yet the cop said he wouldn't give them a ticket for no seats so I'm sure my insurance will be paying out a bunch of on injury claims...)

Many times, the "preferred shops" come with a lifetime warranty while the others don't.  Some appeal to that in the event paint starts flaking or something like that.

Seems like all the big dealerships now have their own collision centers separate from the dealership, per se.  Park Place in Dallas calls theirs BodyWerks, Sewell has a Collision Center, etc.  I think they all have access to the same sources of parts and mfr. "affiliation" is mostly meaningless.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Nueces River Rat

Nueces River Rat 5539

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On 9/18/2018 at 6:10 PM, Clintonaldo said:

With 3 cars you might run into a limits issue with his insurance. I always recommend to go through your insurance and let them subrogate. 

This Up Here GIF by Chord Overstreet

 

The number one fear some have about doing this is the risk your insurance may go up.    It's well worth the risk considering handling it yourself will give you headache.  Plus you want your insurance to be involved in the front end vs the back end in case the other company starts being assholes with you.   Once your insurance takes on your case, they have their army of Lawyers and other people who understand the other companies policies and claims process and hopefully won't let them skip out on you.  

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MillerEP

MillerEP 30500

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1 hour ago, Grimas said:

So wife re-ended someone on the freeway (totally her fault) in her Merc and a claim has been submitted by the person she hit so I'll be taking a hit on my policy and premium... 

On our end, it was mostly plastic damage but the hood is buckled and will probably need to be replaced.  Insurance company gave me a list of "preferred" repair shops.  Is there any reason I shouldn't just take it to the dealer to get it fixed as opposed to one of these shops?  Most of the repairs will require new parts (bumper, grill) from the dealer anyways and I'm going to have to pay the deductible regardless of where I take it... (The damage shouldn't be enough to get it totaled...) 

(Pissed the car my wife hit had 8 people in it including a bunch of kids with no car seats yet the cop said he wouldn't give them a ticket for no seats so I'm sure my insurance will be paying out a bunch of on injury claims...)

Kind of a take of the above comments, but it's best to just take it to your insurance's preferred location. This gets you off the hook of having to deal with or negotiate prices or work or anything, and generally, it is a collision center, so they do this all day every day. Insurance will handle it all, and they usually also have the rental car situation as a part of the preferred deal. For example, when I got in my accident back in September, I was partially at fault. All I had to do was show up to their preferred dealer, drop off my truck and picked up my rental right there. When it was finalized, I dropped the rental back off at the collision center, picked up my shit, and left. Didn't really have to deal with anybody. My truck was a total loss, so insurance cut me a check minus the deductible, and I went car shopping that weekend. I also had accident forgiveness, so my insurance didn't go up for that, just for adding a new car to the policy.

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Paco

Paco 1934

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Posted




(Pissed the car my wife hit had 8 people in it including a bunch of kids with no car seats yet the cop said he wouldn't give them a ticket for no seats so I'm sure my insurance will be paying out a bunch of on injury claims...)


Are you pissed your wife rear ended someone on the highway? Because that's what you should be pissed about.
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blacklab

blacklab 11951

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On 1/26/2022 at 12:09 PM, MillerEP said:

Kind of a take of the above comments, but it's best to just take it to your insurance's preferred location. This gets you off the hook of having to deal with or negotiate prices or work or anything, and generally, it is a collision center, so they do this all day every day. Insurance will handle it all, and they usually also have the rental car situation as a part of the preferred deal. For example, when I got in my accident back in September, I was partially at fault. All I had to do was show up to their preferred dealer, drop off my truck and picked up my rental right there. When it was finalized, I dropped the rental back off at the collision center, picked up my shit, and left. Didn't really have to deal with anybody. My truck was a total loss, so insurance cut me a check minus the deductible, and I went car shopping that weekend. I also had accident forgiveness, so my insurance didn't go up for that, just for adding a new car to the policy.

What if the preferred location has hundreds of bad reviews on google and yelp and very few good ones?

Had a guy hit me in my mercedes, he had gieco, their preferred place on south Lamar had pretty much nothing but bad reviews on line, took it to Jeff's on north lamar, ended up 2x the estimate but they dealt with the insurance so I didn't have to do anything other than drop off and pick up.

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MillerEP

MillerEP 30500

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Posted
5 minutes ago, blacklab said:

What if the preferred location has hundreds of bad reviews on google and yelp and very few good ones?

Had a guy hit me in my mercedes, he had gieco, their preferred place on south Lamar had pretty much nothing but bad reviews on line, took it to Jeff's on north lamar, ended up 2x the estimate but they dealt with the insurance so I didn't have to do anything other than drop off and pick up.

^Sounds like you made the right call. So I suppose I should add, there is an exception to every rule.

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Grimas

Grimas 671

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Posted
4 hours ago, Paco said:


I'm not thrilled about it but considering she has never had an accident, you can only stay pissed for so long but I did milk it for a few nights...  Worst part is that my twins just turned 16 and I was already going to see a hit to my premium before this happened.

 


Are you pissed your wife rear ended someone on the highway? Because that's what you should be pissed about.

 

 

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ChickenSandwich

ChickenSandwich 9852

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, blacklab said:

What if the preferred location has hundreds of bad reviews on google and yelp and very few good ones?

Had a guy hit me in my mercedes, he had gieco, their preferred place on south Lamar had pretty much nothing but bad reviews on line, took it to Jeff's on north lamar, ended up 2x the estimate but they dealt with the insurance so I didn't have to do anything other than drop off and pick up.

Difference there might be YOUR insurance preferred locations vs theirs(Gieco)?

Edited by ChickenSandwich
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C-Man

C-Man 27262

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Posted
5 hours ago, blacklab said:

Yeah, gieco probably doesn’t give a fuck if my car is repaired right. 

They don't give AF.

If somebody else hits you and you're dealing with their carrier, take your car where you want to take it to get fixed. Tell the other carrier this is what you're doing and that's it. If you're at fault, you're probably better off taking it to a place on their recommended list. If you have good insurance, there will be reputable shops on the list.

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fuggled

fuggled 576

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Posted
So wife re-ended someone on the freeway (totally her fault) in her Merc and a claim has been submitted by the person she hit so I'll be taking a hit on my policy and premium... 
On our end, it was mostly plastic damage but the hood is buckled and will probably need to be replaced.  Insurance company gave me a list of "preferred" repair shops.  Is there any reason I shouldn't just take it to the dealer to get it fixed as opposed to one of these shops?  Most of the repairs will require new parts (bumper, grill) from the dealer anyways and I'm going to have to pay the deductible regardless of where I take it... (The damage shouldn't be enough to get it totaled...) 
(Pissed the car my wife hit had 8 people in it including a bunch of kids with no car seats yet the cop said he wouldn't give them a ticket for no seats so I'm sure my insurance will be paying out a bunch of on injury claims...)
You should take it to the place you trust, regardless of what insurance recommends. If you're taking it to a reputable place, they should be used to negotiating with insurance on prices and additional damage they may uncover, so you shouldn't ever get pulled into the middle of that. If you're unsure, check with the repair shop beforehand that they're going to handle all that for you.

You could also go get your own estimate for the repair work before you do anything. That would give you a sense of whether you're about to step into an argument with insurance. The problem is, at least last summer, most places are so busy they may not give you a quote unless you're ready to hand over insurance up front.
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Dbeasy

Dbeasy 15092

Posted
Posted (edited)

Quick question. I was hit by another driver. They ran a red light, bad. They admitted it to the officer, was ticketed, and I've talked with their insurance.  However, it seems like a flaky insurance company. I haven’t notified my insurance since it wasn’t my fault. Do I need to go ahead and notify my insurance now, or can I wait to see how they perform?

Edited by Dbeasy
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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

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Posted
21 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Quick question. I was hit by another driver. They ran a red light, bad. They admitted it to the officer, was ticketed, and I've talked with their insurance.  However, it seems like a flaky insurance company. I haven’t notified my insurance since it wasn’t my fault. Do I need to go ahead and notify my insurance now, or can I wait to see how they perform?

Who are you/they insured with?  Details are important here.

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Sam Lin

Sam Lin 3561

Posted
Posted
On 9/18/2018 at 4:10 PM, Clintonaldo said:

I always recommend to go through your insurance and let them subrogate. 

This still applies. Always claim your own insurance and let them figure it out. They have way more lawyers and way more clout than you.

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Dbeasy

Dbeasy 15092

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Posted

Talked to my insurance today. They said they wouldn’t file a claim with them yet unless I ran into problems with the other insurance company. The agent on the phone said she even delayed her own personal  claim so that there would be no impact to her rates. Even though she was not at fault, she didn’t want there to be any data indicating potential higher risk associated with her account. 

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

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Posted
23 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Old American County Mutual Fire Insurance. 

You or them?  I’m guessing them.  What I need to know is if you are insured with a company who will make you whole in the short term, and take care of it on the back end on your behalf.  You might not want to shop your insurance while that whole process plays itself out, because it will show up as unresolved claim activity.  There’s a fine line to walk between making sure your car gets fixed properly and not fucking up your claims history.

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Dbeasy

Dbeasy 15092

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Posted
10 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

You or them?  I’m guessing them.  What I need to know is if you are insured with a company who will make you whole in the short term, and take care of it on the back end on your behalf.  You might not want to shop your insurance while that whole process plays itself out, because it will show up as unresolved claim activity.  There’s a fine line to walk between making sure your car gets fixed properly and not fucking up your claims history.

I just switched from usaa to progressive two months ago. This insurance company is theirs. 

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