Got in accident and at-fault insurance company denies claim

[dmurphy]

That isn’t a Comprehensive claim. It is collision claim with associated deductible (which you will get back if the at-fault party is found)

Correct. This is why I don't like the "file with the 3rd party insurance" advice that runs rampant here on TMC ... it's not usually to your advantage. At all.

Remember, your insurance company has lawyers. Lots of them. High paid ones. Ones whose job it is to extract money from others. And if you call your insurance company, they'll work for you. It's absolutely worth the deductible - which, if they're successful, they'll subrogate on your behalf and give back to you.

Insurance premiums are just money we pay for protection. At least get something for your money and turn the legal beagles loose.

 

[dragonxlwang]

I think you are going to have a difficult time getting diminution in value from AAA unless you initiate a lawsuit against them. They have claimed their defense and you will now have to take it to a court of law to challenge their position. Given that the diminution is likely only around $5,000-$10,000 it’s probably best to send a demand letter and try to get something out of it, but if you have to go to court the attorney fees will eat through any potential settlement you might receive.

If the Toyota was hit from behind it’s a pretty good defense. Even if it was just a minor hit, it still would be enough to prove the first car was at fault in starting the chain reaction of events that led to your car being damaged.

I would challenge the claim that the "Toyota was hit from behind". From the picture they sent me, it hardly prove that it was crashed into. In addition, it was not taken at the scene. However, I'm not sure if AAA is reasonable enough to judge or taken these into consideration.

 

[OCR1]

I would challenge the claim that the "Toyota was hit from behind". From the picture they sent me, it hardly prove that it was crashed into. In addition, it was not taken at the scene. However, I'm not sure if AAA is reasonable enough to judge or taken these into consideration.

The burden of proof is on you. But you should certainly push back as hard as you can and at least threaten them with litigation. But insurance companies are good at dragging these things out to avoid pay outs.

 

[dragonxlwang]

Correct. This is why I don't like the "file with the 3rd party insurance" advice that runs rampant here on TMC ... it's not usually to your advantage. At all.

Remember, your insurance company has lawyers. Lots of them. High paid ones. Ones whose job it is to extract money from others. And if you call your insurance company, they'll work for you. It's absolutely worth the deductible - which, if they're successful, they'll subrogate on your behalf and give back to you.

Insurance premiums are just money we pay for protection. At least get something for your money and turn the legal beagles loose.

I reported to my insurance Farmers the 1st day accident happened. They are nice enough to waive any deductibles. However, they don't pay for body injuries nor accept diminishing value claims. And now AAA is just denying any liability

 

[Gize]

This is one of the rare examples where I would say get an attorney. My wife was involved in a hit and run and the police had not even filed the report or bothered to return our calls after a month, let alone find the guy who did it. We got an attorney who only charged if he won. He ended up getting us a check from Uhaul (hit and run driving a Uhaul) and our insurance company. Get an attorney or at the least file with your insurance, they shouldn't ding you as it was clearly not your fault.

But mostly, condolences for your loss, I hope you get driving a cleaned up Tesla soon!

 

[OCR1]

We were hit from behind in our Prius last year on the freeway. The car was totaled and the driver admitted she fell asleep, so fault was not in question. Our insurance company covered the damage and we did contact the other insurance company directly. We kept threatening to engage a lawyer if they did not respond quickly. In the end we settled for $15K, which was the policy limit. But we had injuries, loss of work, pain and suffering, etc. It still took a long time and they did everything they could to deny payment until the bitter end. It’s not an easy process, for obvious reasons.

 

[dragonxlwang]

This is one of the rare examples where I would say get an attorney. My wife was involved in a hit and run and the police had not even filed the report or bothered to return our calls after a month, let alone find the guy who did it. We got an attorney who only charged if he won. He ended up getting us a check from Uhaul (hit and run driving a Uhaul) and our insurance company. Get an attorney or at the least file with your insurance, they shouldn't ding you as it was clearly not your fault.

But mostly, condolences for your loss, I hope you get driving a cleaned up Tesla soon!

Thanks!!

Can I ask how long the litigation process takes? Or the attorney represented you to settle with the insurance/uhual without filing a lawsuit? We are hoping to finish this drag as soon as possible.

 

[dragonxlwang]

We were hit from behind in our Prius last year on the freeway. The car was totaled and the driver admitted she fell asleep, so fault was not in question. Our insurance company covered the damage and we did contact the other insurance company directly. We kept threatening to engage a lawyer if they did not respond quickly. In the end we settled for $15K, which was the policy limit. But we had injuries, loss of work, pain and suffering, etc. It still took a long time and they did everything they could to deny payment until the bitter end. It’s not an easy process, for obvious reasons.

Thanks for sharing!! Was it all between you and the insurance company? and I thought that big insurance company isn't afraid of lawsuit since they have a department of lawyers and there will be no penalty even if they loss...

 

[Adam3]

Thanks Big Dog - Reason that I still need to deal with AAA (at-fault driver) is that after checking with body shop and found the battery drop after the accident, we would sell the car after repair,

Wow, that's going to cost you a lot of money. The damage looks rather minor. What does "battery drop" mean? Wouldn't it be repaired?

 

[dmurphy]

I reported to my insurance Farmers the 1st day accident happened. They are nice enough to waive any deductibles. However, they don't pay for body injuries nor accept diminishing value claims. And now AAA is just denying any liability

Why wouldn't they pay for bodily injury? You don't have injury coverage under your liability?

As for DV claims, get an attorney. That's a very different road to hoe. Best of luck, but you're likely not going to win that.

 

[run-the-joules]

Jesus. imagine having a car covered in cameras and features to record and not using it. Very little sympathy from me, sorry this happened and my bad attitude, but I really can't believe people buy a car like this and don't use earth shattering features like this.

Given how many people do try to use the feature and find that it didn’t save the footage when they go to retrieve it, I’d say it’s not worth relying on. I have dedicated dashcams front and rear that predate the feature, and I’ll move them to my next Tesla too.

 

[dragonxlwang]

Both my insurance Famers and AAA told me that if I go through Farmers, it would be a comprehensive claim with deductible $750 waived. Farmers told me that body injury caused by other car will not be covered. So far I'm using my own medical insurance for doctor visit and therapy visits

 

[Garlan Garner]

EVERYONE - Turn your cameras ON.

Record - Record - Record.

There is NO reason not to.



If not for yourself...maybe you can possibly help someone else.

 

[mattack4000]

Why the f are people afraid to use their insurance, especially on rear ending incident. You don't save any money

 

[Garlan Garner]

Why the f are people afraid to use their insurance, especially on rear ending incident. You don't save any money

One reason I didn't use my insurance is because my insurance only paid for my rental for 30 days.

They other parties ( who hit me from behind ) insurance company had to pay for my rental for the entire duration of the repair. ( 79 days ).

There were additional reasons, but that was one of the main ones. Especially when my rental was $46 per day. That would have been $2,254 I would have had to pay for the days beyond 30.

One additional reason is that I didn't have to pay my deductible.

 

[dmurphy]

Both my insurance Famers and AAA told me that if I go through Farmers, it would be a comprehensive claim with deductible $750 waived. Farmers told me that body injury caused by other car will not be covered. So far I'm using my own medical insurance for doctor visit and therapy visits

Wow... just wow. I'm looking at some data online, and apparently California doesn't require "Med Pay" (or, as it's known elsewhere PIP - Personal Injury Protection) insurance. I can't believe that!

Here in NJ, PIP is mandatory. And moreso, by default, it's the primary medical coverage in an auto accident. Your personal health insurance is usually secondary. One can elect to flip that around, but the premium savings usually aren't worth the risk.

So that said - this really is a collision and not a comprehensive claim. That's part of what needs to be clarified.

And then, if you really want to file a DV claim, you're going to need an attorney. That's one of the most difficult claims to file ... Best of luck -
the deck is absolutely stacked against you in the DV realm.

Being that California is a "fault" insurance state, you're going to need to prove fault. And that, I'm afraid, will also take an attorney at this point, as the other parties' insurance already denied culpability.

 

[dmurphy]

One reason I didn't use my insurance is because my insurance only paid for my rental for 30 days.

They other parties ( who hit me from behind ) insurance company had to pay for my rental for the entire duration of the repair. ( 79 days ).

Whether you file with your insurance company or not, you can STILL have the other parties' insurance pay for the extended rental, once they're at fault. By filing with your company, you lose nothing, retain that right, and have your insurance companies' attorneys working for you. Have them get the rental coverage for you - it's part of their job.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Whether you file with your insurance company or not, you can STILL have the other parties' insurance pay for the extended rental, once they're at fault. By filing with your company, you lose nothing, retain that right, and have your insurance companies' attorneys working for you. Have them get the rental coverage for you - it's part of their job.

That didn't work for me here in Illinois. Trust me - I tried. The other persons insurance company told me that they would NOT trust my insurance company's adjuster. My insurance company said - you can only file the claim with one company. Not both.

I would have had to sue the insurance company of the person who hit me for the rental.

Could I still have filed with my insurance company? Sure, but why?

It was just easier to have the other persons insurance pay for everything. I didn't have any hassles at all filing with the other persons insurance. It was easy peasy.

 

[OCR1]

Thanks for sharing!! Was it all between you and the insurance company? and I thought that big insurance company isn't afraid of lawsuit since they have a department of lawyers and there will be no penalty even if they loss...

My insurance company paid for everything they were responsible for but I had to go after the other company for loss of wages, personal suffering, and medical costs. But this was clearly the other driver’s fault so there really was no question that we were owed some money. They just decided to settle rather than going through protracted litigation because they knew they would owe us some money and at $15K it was cheaper to settle than to litigate. And they were glad that I did not hire an attorney so they were a bit easier to work with. Once you bring an attorney in everything changes.

 

[Garlan Garner]

My insurance company paid for everything they were responsible for but I had to go after the other company for loss of wages, personal suffering, and medical costs. But this was clearly the other driver’s fault so there really was no question that we were owed some money. They just decided to settle rather than going through protracted litigation because they knew they would owe us some money and at $15K it was cheaper to settle than to litigate. And they were glad that I did not hire an attorney so they were a bit easier to work with. Once you bring an attorney in everything changes.

I agree.


I don't understand why people choose to go with their own insurance about an accident that's not their fault. Why go through all of the hassle you went through - for seemingly no reason.

Now when its your fault....the story changes.