Got in accident and at-fault insurance company denies claim

[dragonxlwang]

My attorney warned us this could be a very long process. But within about 9 months we had received both of our checks. His office asked us for information and literally did everything else, just asking us if we were ok with the amounts offered before he agreed. We did deny Uhauls original offer as it was very weak and they were just testing us to see if we'd go away. We outright rejected and they came back with about 75% more, so we took it.

Good luck sir! Get back on that Tesla horse and ride your way to the memory card store! Or you could just click buy it now.. but that sounds much less flattering to a classic sun-setting scene; therefore I cannot endorse it...

Yeah I plugged the usb stick the next day I was asked whether I had a video record. I couldn’t express how much regret I did!!

what kind of lawyer should I look for? I have a legal plan provided by my employer and I found a lawyer through the network. But I believe he was a general lawyer. Does my case sounds like that I need a specialized lawyer?

BTW, did the at fault party pay for lawyer or you were splitting with your lawyer? Thanks!

 

[dragonxlwang]

3 Car Pile Up Accident | Who Is At Fault | Liability

In a 3 car pile up accident, the middle car is still liable to the front car even though AAA claimed it's caused by the last car who fled the scene.

The middle car should reserve enough safe distance to prevent hitting the car in front when it was hit in the rear.

Sounds like it's time for a lawyer or dash cam next time!

That’s a law in CA? Why AAA lied to me saying that its not their liability because it’s hit and run. I’ll double check with the attorney and if this is true, I’m really sick of AAA! Shame!

 

[dragonxlwang]

Couldn’t have

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?

Not sure. Checked with 2 body shop and they told me that there's structural/frame damage and will cost a lot to fix. I haven't send the car to Tesla's dealer because I am not sure who is going to pay for that yet. The battery was fully charged 3% less than it was before the next day this happened. Since then, I have almost have it parked at our drive way fearing that it would cause any danger while driving.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

Someone’s got to jam a lawyer up their butt to make them move, otherwise, they’re just going to shut you down.

So hire an obese lawyer.

 

[Keeper]

Surely the amount of damage sustained by your car would mean that the car behind you should by rights be virtually a right off if their story is to be believed. The impact energy is transferred down the row of cars in multiple collisions with the first car sustaining the biggest impact and so on. Seems like a con to me.

 

[Gize]

Yeah I plugged the usb stick the next day I was asked whether I had a video record. I couldn’t express how much regret I did!!

what kind of lawyer should I look for? I have a legal plan provided by my employer and I found a lawyer through the network. But I believe he was a general lawyer. Does my case sounds like that I need a specialized lawyer?

BTW, did the at fault party pay for lawyer or you were splitting with your lawyer? Thanks!

You want to find an accident attorney, they do this stuff all the time, so that is what they are good at. We did not pay a dime, but they happily took their cut which I think was about 30% if I remember correctly. While I appreciate what my attorney did for us, they are a business. They will interview you, if they think they can make money, they will go, and a good attorney will go hard. When you get paid, they get paid, so they have a healthy motivation to support you, ends up being a nice partnership. I have had two non at fault accident experiences, one with an attorney and one without. One paid for a few chiropractic visits, and one had checks coming in the mail. I'll let you decide which was which.

I am not a fan of frivolous lawsuits, it's why we can't seem to have any fun these days, cause everyone wants to sue. However, in situations like yours, and what was mine, I believe that is when you really need help. I'm glad we got ours, and I hope you get yours. Good luck.

 

[dmurphy]

You want to find an accident attorney, they do this stuff all the time, so that is what they are good at. We did not pay a dime, but they happily took their cut which I think was about 30% if I remember correctly. While I appreciate what my attorney did for us, they are a business. They will interview you, if they think they can make money, they will go, and a good attorney will go hard. When you get paid, they get paid, so they have a healthy motivation to support you, ends up being a nice partnership. I have had two non at fault accident experiences, one with an attorney and one without. One paid for a few chiropractic visits, and one had checks coming in the mail. I'll let you decide which was which.

I am not a fan of frivolous lawsuits, it's why we can't seem to have any fun these days, cause everyone wants to sue. However, in situations like yours, and what was mine, I believe that is when you really need help. I'm glad we got ours, and I hope you get yours. Good luck.

Exactly. Believe me, I wish I had the ability to use an attorney. I’ve taken a bath on our Enclave’s value since a deer jumped in front it - anywhere from $10-$12k in trade value loss. I’m in total agreement - I don’t like frivolous lawsuits, but sometimes it’s warranted. Yours sounds like it was, and this case certainly is. By navigating this without an attorney is about 8,000x more difficult than it should be. Hire the experts and let them go at it.

 

[Jay24]

That’s a law in CA? Why AAA lied to me saying that its not their liability because it’s hit and run. I’ll double check with the attorney and if this is true, I’m really sick of AAA! Shame!

That is NOT the law in California. AAA did not lie to you. You’re on a Tesla forum getting advice from people who don’t know anything about insurance or the actual law. Take the advice you get here with a grain of salt.

CA is one of the most highly regulated states when it comes to insurance. AAA, and all other carries have strict rules on how they can operate. They aren’t going to “lie” to you in order to accomplish anything. You may not agree with them on certain areas, but that doesn’t mean they are lying.

Unless you’re also claiming injuries, a lawyer isn’t going to help you much. I promise you that a lawyer isn’t going to make them change their liability decision if the evidence supports it. Attorneys rarely take on property-only cases simply because there is no money in it.

 

[Garlan Garner]

You couldn't be further from the truth there. It's all about negligence. If the Prius really was pushed into OP (which based on the damage... doubtful, but that's their claim), then they would be negligence free. Under the law, they would not be responsible. Their insurance would deny liability placing 100% on the "phantom vehicle".

Because there is damage to the rear of the Prius, they're going to stick with that and the chances of that changing are slim. They have to believe their insured unless they have evidence that contradicts that story... such as a dash cam (set that up ASAP!).

I work in insurance claims. I see this every single day.

It just had this happen to me in June.

It all happened the opposite of how you are indicating. I was the last one hit in this 3 car accident. I went through the insurance company of the person who hit me.

Her insurance company ( State Farm ) didn't even hesitate to fix my car. Took 3.5 months.

I received a free rental the whole time.

I lived what I'm saying.

Add my $4,500+ car rental on top of that.

I lived what I'm saying.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Thank you.

I don’t know why @Garlan Garner continues to believe there’s automatic 100% guilt (just like he believes any claim automatically causes a rate increase), but the world isn’t that black and white. It’d be a lot easier if it were, but it just plain isn’t. It’s a world of grey.

... and of course an insurance company has to back their client, lacking evidence to the contrary. They’d be out of business if they didn’t.

I'm not saying that anything is automatic. Neither what happened to me - nor what you guys are claiming is automatic.

I'm saying I lived through what I'm claiming. See my above post.

 

[Jay24]

It just had this happen to me in June.

It all happened the opposite of how you are indicating. I was the last one hit in this 3 car accident. I went through the insurance company of the person who hit me.

Her insurance company didn't even hesitate to fix my car. Took 3.5 months.

I received a free rental the whole time.

I lived what I'm saying.





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View attachment 521675 I lived what I'm saying.

There are lots of different scenarios in which you could have gotten your vehicle repaired. Dispute of facts, evidence that disproved someone’s statement, or even joint & several law.

The middle car could have admitted to hitting you first before they got hit. In which case, they would be at fault. Or both you and the rear car indicated that there was 2 impacts, which would point to the middle car being liable.

But trust me, the insurance of the middle car would not have covered your damages if they felt their insured was negligence free.

There could be many different ways a 3 car accident can unfold. Your specific situation does not mean the law says you’re responsible if you hit someone, no matter the reason. I promise you this.

I don’t doubt your personal experience, but there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes in insurance claims that you likely aren’t aware of.

 

[Garlan Garner]

There are lots of different scenarios in which you could have gotten your vehicle repaired. Dispute of facts, evidence that disproved someone’s statement, or even joint & several law.

The middle car could have admitted to hitting you first before they got hit. In which case, they would be at fault. Or both you and the rear car indicated that there was 2 impacts, which would point to the middle car being liable.

But trust me, the insurance of the middle car would not have covered your damages if they felt their insured was negligence free.

There could be many different ways a 3 car accident can unfold. Your specific situation does not mean the law says you’re responsible if you hit someone, no matter the reason. I promise you this.

I don’t doubt your personal experience, but there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes in insurance claims that you likely aren’t aware of.

I was just told that things couldn't have happened the way it did for me. I was just told that what happened in my scenario couldn't have been further from the truth.

No matter what I know about insurance - nor what the person who hit me knows about insurance....it actually happened the way I said.

I was told by State Farm ( her insurance company ) that they will reclaim my expense from the person who hit their client. I don't know if that happened or what. I really don't care. I got my car fixed.

Again...my only objective in all of this is just to say to whomever reads this.....that nothing is automatic and only works one way and that my situation was the truth for me.

 

[vjason]

Always call the cops if on a public road. Always.
That way any hit and run claims would be on the official report, where people are less likely to lie.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Always call the cops if on a public road. Always.
That way any hit and run claims would be on the official report, where people are less likely to lie.

absolutely. Call the police. Especially since you have a TESLA. A hit and run report with video from Tesla's cams....is a slam dunk.

For example:

There was an accident in an Aldi's parking lot here in Chicago. The Police actually came into the store and asked who owns the Tesla' in the parking lot. I thought my car was hit..but no. He just wanted to know if I had my cameras on....AND I DID. I was able to help another person identify the car that drove off after hitting them in the parking lot.

 

[Stickboy46]

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.

Yup, when my wife got tboned in her charger, I started the claim with the other insurance. About a week in, it started getting sketchy. They wanted me to sign a release that they could pick up the car from the tow company but couldn't tell me where they were taking it. I refused until they could give me a name of a place where they would take it for the adjuster to look at it. They refused and said they would have to charge me storage fees until I signed.

Called my insurance that day, paid my deductible, and they ran with it. Had my deductible back within 2 weeks.

 

[Jay24]

I was just told that things couldn't have happened the way it did for me. I was just told that what happened in my scenario couldn't have been further from the truth.

I never said your scenario was further from the truth, but rather you stating what the “law” is that was further from the truth.

Again, I don’t doubt your experience, but the law is not going to be on OP’s side for this one unfortunately.

As a side note about police - they rarely come to the scene of accidents much anymore unless there are injuries, especially in California. CHP will almost never respond to just a small traffic collision. It’s unfortunate and I wish they would, but I think so many large depts are stretched so thin that they don’t have the resources. Always recommend calling and trying to get them to come out, but don’t be surprised when they say no.

 

[afadeev]

I reported to my insurance Farmers the 1st day accident happened.

Sorry, but that's the opposite of what you wrote earlier (you filed a claim with the other party's insurance company first).

They are nice enough to waive any deductibles. However, they don't pay for body injuries nor accept diminishing value claims.

It sounds more like you are trying to cash-in, then get your car repaired.
Body injuries? Really?
DV claims? Maybe.

And now AAA is just denying any liability

Good for them - you don't get to rip them off easily.
Now work with your insurance company to get your car repaired, and chill.

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

Because your insurance will only repair the damage to the car, as it should.
It will not pay for bogus inflated claims, which seams to be OP's primary objective!

 

[Big Dog]

That’s a law in CA? Why AAA lied to me saying that its not their liability because it’s hit and run. I’ll double check with the attorney and if this is true, I’m really sick of AAA! Shame!

AAA is not YOUR insurance company. Of course, they will only tell you what benefits them. Get your car fixed by your own company and let them go after the other guy(s) for reimbursement. In the meantime, you can always go after DV. Just let your carrier know that is what you plan to do. Since it's no $ from them, I don't see why they would care.

 

[N.Y.R.]

and if someone did their best to have a usb drive installed - and the recording STILL failed?

don't blame the victim. not cool.

if if if

If my grandma had wheels, she'd be a bicycle. My response isn't binary - wouldn't have been the same IF the case was different. In this case, it's not so my response is to the case in question. Zero excuse or sympathy for ignorance and laziness.

 

[spindrome]

Not sure how fast you were going, but from a physics standpoint, the pictures don’t make sense. If the Prius was rear ended on the rear right by another vehicle, wouldn’t that have caused the Prius to shift to the left after impact? The Prius’ damage is on its front left bumper and your rear right bumper.

The only way I can see this happening is if the Prius wasn’t in your lane and after he got rear ended, it pushed him to your lane (on the left).