If you have the other party's insurance info, the correct course of action is to contact them, have them accept 100% responsibility, and after they do that, you correspond with them to get it repaired (with no deductible to you). The only reason to deal with your own insurance is if the other party doesn't have insurance, or they're refusing to pay for the repair.
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Tesla Insurance Experience Being the Not At Fault Driver
- Thread starter eJonny
- Start date
We are coming up on 4 weeks since I filed my claim. Thanks to everyone that has provided responses! Some great advice.
I'm going to keep pressing Tesla to do the subrogation (as I think it is a natural and ordinary expectation of an insurance company). I understand some people don't mind working on getting other insurance companies to pay, but if I'm going to stick with Tesla, instead of moving back to USAA, I would like Tesla Insurance to do everything that USAA does.
It's been about 1.5 weeks without any updates from Tesla Insurance. I have been in touch with them. There is someone that handles claims escalations (Joye) that has been very polite and responsive, but she can't see (in systems) with regard to what is happening with claims. It does appear that the outsourced adjusting firm (Crawford in this case) may handle the subrogation (although now I have realized that I have to have the ceramic coat repair on the side view mirror and this will take the total claim over my deductible). So we'll see what happens next and I'll keep everyone that is interested updated on this thread.
I'm going to keep pressing Tesla to do the subrogation (as I think it is a natural and ordinary expectation of an insurance company). I understand some people don't mind working on getting other insurance companies to pay, but if I'm going to stick with Tesla, instead of moving back to USAA, I would like Tesla Insurance to do everything that USAA does.
It's been about 1.5 weeks without any updates from Tesla Insurance. I have been in touch with them. There is someone that handles claims escalations (Joye) that has been very polite and responsive, but she can't see (in systems) with regard to what is happening with claims. It does appear that the outsourced adjusting firm (Crawford in this case) may handle the subrogation (although now I have realized that I have to have the ceramic coat repair on the side view mirror and this will take the total claim over my deductible). So we'll see what happens next and I'll keep everyone that is interested updated on this thread.
airborne spoon
Active Member
Oh hell TF no!
I don't care what the damage is I'm getting a police report. Yes it takes a little while but just stay off to the side of the road and get that done it's very important in the process, especially if it was a commercial/corporate truck that hit you.
Also its a tesla no way its gonna cost less that $500 for any repair
You're correct on the insurance not going up, comprehensive and not at fault claims don't raise your premium only at fault stuff does. I've had probably a dozen+ not at fault claims, (mostly theft and vandalism) in my 20'ish years of driving and it hasn't effected my premium once.
And if its under your deductible that shouldn't matter anyway because you're not at fault, which means your insurance should be harassing the crap out of the other persons insurance to get that money.
OrbiterTI4
Member
I thought it was mentioned in this thread but police response is very location specific. Some localities will send police or peace officers regardless, some will only come out if a vehicle is disabled on the main roadway (side of road doesn't count), and some will refuse citing "it's a civil matter / it's on private property (if in a parking lot for example) / there are no injuries".
airborne spoon
Active Member
That's some shitty local cops right there, maybe it's my small town upbringing but any time i've needed a cop for a police report i call the non-emergency number and usually in up to 30 min there is an officer onsite. I've never been in an accident that had injuries or one that couldn't be moved off to the side of the road either.
And that's not just my hometown that's at like 6-7 different cities i've lived in, (i'm not counting on base because the MP's have nothing better to do anyway so they alway send a few cars over whenever a call comes in).
Needsdecaf
Active Member
Agree. I'm with USAA and while they aren't the cheapest, they have come through in spades when I needed them.
Earlier this year, I collided with a large stationary object in the road on the way to work. I was on AutoPilot, following distance 2 and actually paying attention with hands on the wheel. It was dark and the object appeared out from under the pickup in front of me. The pickup cleared it, and didn't react, so by the time I saw the object, I knew there was no choice but to hit it. It also took out at least 3 other cars.
Unfortunately it toasted the battery. This happened on a Tuesday, and by 11:00 AM, the car was at Tesla Houston Service. By Tuesday close of business an adjuster from USAA had looked at it. Also on Tuesday evening, Enterprise was dropping of a "premium SUV" for me to drive while the car was of commission.
Tesla provided me with an initial estimate on Wednesday which was over 50% of the car's wholesale value at the time. I had the adjuster do comps and I was very satisfied with the value they gave me. We requested a loss based on the initial estimate missing things I knew would come later. By Friday morning, I had a total loss approved by USAA. No fuss no muss. USAA paid off my lien and sent me a wire for the balance within 7 days.
So yeah, sometimes Insurance costs. But when you need it, it pays off. Not saying that my car wouldn't have been totaled by another insurance company, or that I wouldn't have gotten my money. But in this case everything was super smooth, no arguing, no protesting, no nothing.
Or take homer to small claims court if your are not fully remedied by your insurance company
Because I expect my insurance carrier to do that on my behalf. USAA has done this on my behalf on multiple occasions. A policy support representative at Tesla Insurance even advised me that they would handle this.
I had a sideswipe in Newport Beach, CA once. We did call the police to do a report, but they refused based on the lack of injuries (the damage in that case was over $5k). I don't know that I would characterize NBPD in a negative way. It's just a matter of how involved you want local PD in non-injury auto accidents.
Insurers are required to adhere to state insurance laws and are regulated by state insurance commissioners. Policy contracts specify the agreement between the insurer and the policy holder. If an insurer does not perform according to the law or the contract then they should be reported to the state commissioner who will require the insurer to explain and adhere.
Best to check the state insurance laws and the policy contract to avoid possible disappointment or false expectations when filing a complaint.
Best to check the state insurance laws and the policy contract to avoid possible disappointment or false expectations when filing a complaint.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately insurance companies are uniformly bad. They are really in the business of not paying claims. I've had uniformly bad experiences with insurance companies. 4 months ago I had an accident where I was rear-ended. Other person's fault. I filed with my insurance company since that's what they said I should do. Terrible customer service. They never initiated any contact with me. I always had to repeatedly call and email to get any response from them or to get them to do anything. Repair was completed two months ago but we're still waiting for subrogation of my deductible. This insurance company is metromile. I don't mind calling them out since they are so terrible.
I agree. A commercial truck tried to make a right turn from the left lane and sideswiped me. USAA had me go to one of their shops to get an estimate. The next day the estimate amount less deductible was in my bank account. I used a different shop that fixed the car for less. A month later USAA deposited the deductible in my account. If you consider the rebates USAA gives members every year their premiums are reasonable.
well its a catch "22"......insurance states in the contract that you must have a police report......the local police won't give you one because their guidance is unless there is an "injury" they are not allowed or required to make one...
yep....I have had USAA for 47 years and have experienced the same outstanding service
Here is the latest update.
On Nov 6th, I had my car in for detailing and explained that my side view mirror had been replaced. My detailer asked if I wanted it recoated with ceramic coat (Cystral Serum, which I highly recommend). I said yes, and the cost of that was about $140. I shared that information with Tesla Insurance as this took my total claim amount over $1000 (my deductible).
I shared this with the policy servicing agent who was handling my escalation. It took over a week to hear back from her. She said she has no access to see any of the information about claims. I'm not sure why someone who has responsibility for handling claims escalation would have no access to claims information.
Further, I asked Joye, on November 7th, if I could speak with her manager. I'm still waiting to hear back on that. Someone else on the policy servicing team said that the general manager would never speak with a customer and doesn't handle things like customer complaints.
I tried to reach Joy on November 10th, and spoke to another policy servicing agent who said he would escalate the issue to Mark at Crawford who is in charge of all Crawford agents working on Tesla's behalf.
I heard from Mark on the 11th who said that the issue would be assigned to a subrogation agent and that the matter can take between 30 and 45 days since it is subrogation.
On November 12th I was sent a copy of the internal Tesla/Crawford email escalating my claims issue where Joye (Tesla) explained to Crawford that I was "bugging her every day" and to please get in contact with me. In this I was asked to prove that I paid for the ceramic coat work (I had only provided the estimate prior to that).
I responded by the 13th with all the documentation that had my claim over $1000 and that I was waiting to hear from a subrogation agent.
On November 25th I called Tesla again asking to speak to the subrogation agent and asking about the status of the check for the amount over my deductible (I was told on the 13th I was sent a claims payment email saying that a check would be cut for the portion of the claim above deductible to which I responded that my name wasn't spelled properly on the letter - my name was also incorrected spelled on the check).
The check finally arrived on December 1st. The check was dated the 16th. I deposited the check on December 6th and received notification from my bank that the check bounced on December 8th. I started a separate thread about that ordeal.
I have since heard from my subrogation agent. He is very friendly and does appear to follow up. He sounds like he is making progress with that sub-claim and said that the matter only made to to him around December 1st (maybe three weeks after speaking to the head of all the Crawford agents assigned to Tesla who said that the matter would be assigned to a subrogation agent). So that pushed back the "30-45 day clock by about 3 weeks.
I still haven't heard back from Joye (the Tesla Insurance agent that was "handling my escalation" and who wrote to Crawford that I was "bugging her").
I still haven't heard from Joye's supervisor.
It does seem like Crawford will follow up, but you have to call them as about three quarters of any follow up is initiated by me, rather than the Crawford agent getting back to me.
It's all very disappointing. As I said when I opened this post, I'm an early adopter and a Tesla supporter. I expected some bumps in the road with Tesla Insurance. But I never expected to find that Tesla Insurance employees just don't seem to care and not being able to talk to anyone at Tesla Insurance that has the power to change or improve things at all.
I will follow up again when this issue is completely resolved.
On Nov 6th, I had my car in for detailing and explained that my side view mirror had been replaced. My detailer asked if I wanted it recoated with ceramic coat (Cystral Serum, which I highly recommend). I said yes, and the cost of that was about $140. I shared that information with Tesla Insurance as this took my total claim amount over $1000 (my deductible).
I shared this with the policy servicing agent who was handling my escalation. It took over a week to hear back from her. She said she has no access to see any of the information about claims. I'm not sure why someone who has responsibility for handling claims escalation would have no access to claims information.
Further, I asked Joye, on November 7th, if I could speak with her manager. I'm still waiting to hear back on that. Someone else on the policy servicing team said that the general manager would never speak with a customer and doesn't handle things like customer complaints.
I tried to reach Joy on November 10th, and spoke to another policy servicing agent who said he would escalate the issue to Mark at Crawford who is in charge of all Crawford agents working on Tesla's behalf.
I heard from Mark on the 11th who said that the issue would be assigned to a subrogation agent and that the matter can take between 30 and 45 days since it is subrogation.
On November 12th I was sent a copy of the internal Tesla/Crawford email escalating my claims issue where Joye (Tesla) explained to Crawford that I was "bugging her every day" and to please get in contact with me. In this I was asked to prove that I paid for the ceramic coat work (I had only provided the estimate prior to that).
I responded by the 13th with all the documentation that had my claim over $1000 and that I was waiting to hear from a subrogation agent.
On November 25th I called Tesla again asking to speak to the subrogation agent and asking about the status of the check for the amount over my deductible (I was told on the 13th I was sent a claims payment email saying that a check would be cut for the portion of the claim above deductible to which I responded that my name wasn't spelled properly on the letter - my name was also incorrected spelled on the check).
The check finally arrived on December 1st. The check was dated the 16th. I deposited the check on December 6th and received notification from my bank that the check bounced on December 8th. I started a separate thread about that ordeal.
I have since heard from my subrogation agent. He is very friendly and does appear to follow up. He sounds like he is making progress with that sub-claim and said that the matter only made to to him around December 1st (maybe three weeks after speaking to the head of all the Crawford agents assigned to Tesla who said that the matter would be assigned to a subrogation agent). So that pushed back the "30-45 day clock by about 3 weeks.
I still haven't heard back from Joye (the Tesla Insurance agent that was "handling my escalation" and who wrote to Crawford that I was "bugging her").
I still haven't heard from Joye's supervisor.
It does seem like Crawford will follow up, but you have to call them as about three quarters of any follow up is initiated by me, rather than the Crawford agent getting back to me.
It's all very disappointing. As I said when I opened this post, I'm an early adopter and a Tesla supporter. I expected some bumps in the road with Tesla Insurance. But I never expected to find that Tesla Insurance employees just don't seem to care and not being able to talk to anyone at Tesla Insurance that has the power to change or improve things at all.
I will follow up again when this issue is completely resolved.
I didn't contact the other insurance company because I've always felt that is something that my insurance company should do for me. And, up to this point, and finally even including Tesla Insurance, my insurance company has taken care of this for me.
Tesla Insurance is not priced as a cut rate provider. They are priced in the same tier as USAA, State Farm, and 21 Century.
I'm sorry about your experience. I've used Geico and USAA and both had very good service. USAA had amazing service and tools to track claims. It seems like Tesla Insurance is in the same class as Metromile right now.
aerodyne
2 of 3 EV's - Defect Free!
Based on your experience, plus no savings over my current insurance, not going to Tesla Insurance.....
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