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Rear ended :(
- Thread starter moswissa
- Start date
And this is why the TeslaCam is awesome. I got rear-ended and didn’t worry about a police report since I had video. There was no refuting the video evidence.
Yep, same with ours. It even shocked me when reviewing the cams how blatant it was, they ran a red light that was almost 10 seconds old.
Oh I’m well aware of that. I know car accidents suck esp when you are completely innocent, you still get screwed. That’s why you drain every penny for medical claims with a good lawyer but even then it’s a huge hassle but IMO that’s the only way to even out.
unless you total it, buy it back for pennies on the dollar and repair it yourself. I had a friend do that and it worked well.
Same happened to me with Geico. Car was a total loss and they came back with 17k less than the value of my car because they didn’t include my options. Thankfully I reviewed it and they paid the full amount. Thankfully my car was only 9 months old. Even after depreciation, I made out with enough to buy a new one.
Be careful with buying a car that was totaled. If it ends you with a salvage title, Tesla will disable Supercharging on the vehicle. The idea is if was bad enough to total there may be unknown damage to the battery pack or other parts of the charging system.
rxlawdude
Active Member
In California, when a collision is the fault of another, your gap insurance is irrelevant. (If the accident is your fault, you exclusively deal with your own insurance company, and are at the mercy of the policy contractual terms.)
The at-fault party is responsible for making you whole. This includes:
1. Rental vehicle for the entire time your car is being repaired or evaluated as a total. That rental vehicle must be similar to the vehicle damaged or totaled.
2. A repair at a service provider approved by the manufacturer, not the cheap-ass one they will probably push you to use.
3. DIMINISHED VALUE: do not forget to insist on DV as part of any settlement where your car is repaired. You will lose $$$ upon sale when the accident shows up in the buyer's research, and you are entitled to recoup that up front from the at-fault party.
really? Well that’s great news because I do live in CA and it wasn’t my fault. I also got a police report in case the driver changes his mind when he gives his statement to the insurance.
as for DV, I didn’t know that either, I will most definitely include that.
thanks so much!
well that’s good to know. If no supercharging, I’ll definitely not buy it if it’s salvaged. Thanks for telling me!
What I don't understand (in my late 30's now, no accidents) is how you process an accident. Assuming I'm stopped at a light and someone rear ends me, that's pretty straight forward. But, let's say the people that hit me admit fault and it's uncontested blame. They have GEICO. I have Progressive, for example. I don't have a relationship with GEICO, so I can't just call them and be like "Hey your people hit me, so you gotta pay up!"
Likewise, let's say I have a $500 deductible for collision. Do I call my own insurance company and file my own claim? Progressive, in my example, would have a relationship with me: I'm their insured. But, I shouldn't be out of my own pocket because of their client's uncontested error. Do they (Progressive) recover my deductible from GEICO directly, or make me pay the $500 and then refund me that $500 upon recovery?
Likewise, let's say I have a $500 deductible for collision. Do I call my own insurance company and file my own claim? Progressive, in my example, would have a relationship with me: I'm their insured. But, I shouldn't be out of my own pocket because of their client's uncontested error. Do they (Progressive) recover my deductible from GEICO directly, or make me pay the $500 and then refund me that $500 upon recovery?
I called my insurance and had them deal with the at-faults company. My insurance got reimbursed for all expenses. I paid the deductible, but was reimbursed by my insurance once the at-fault’s paid.
If you have full coverage, tour insurance will do all that leg work and you just pay your deductible which will be reimbursed later or just have the 2 insurances deal with it. The best approach is getting a police report so there is no he said she said bs.
Btw care to share the source regarding gap insurance not needed when not at fault? I can’t find that info anywhere
rxlawdude
Active Member
Gap insurance is a supplement to your collision and comprehensive coverages. All three of these are contractual between you and your insurer. The at-fault party must make you whole, including a "like" replacement or equivalent costs. Too many people roll over and accept less than what they need to be in the position they were in prior to being hit by the asshat.
From iii.org, "In the event of an accident in which you've badly damaged or totaled your car, gap insurance covers the difference between what a vehicle is currently worth (which your standard insurance will pay) and the amount you actually owe on it."
It becomes moot when dealing with an at-fault party, as they are responsible for what you would have received from the gap coverage. If that weren't the case, you would be getting less than you should.
Exception: what if the at-fault driver has minimum coverage $15k property damage (i.e., your car), you then have to use your own insurer to cover the difference between the $15k the other insurer will happily pay. Same if the at-fault driver is uninsured. In this case, your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage plus gap insurance would ensure you get the full value up to the fair market value of the car (or in best cases, the amount you paid for the car). But this is based on contract law, not tort (e.g., injured party entitled to full restoration of position). Fighting your own insurance company is totally different than fighting an at-fault driver's insurance.
I’m sure these are outlier experiences, but I completely agree that I’d rather have camera footage over a police report. This reminds me of a funny standup set from Mike Birbiglia: