Got in a wreck last night! Darn it!

[om21braz]

A couple years ago my daughter was involved in an accident (mistake) with another vehicle in which the other driver was at fault and had no insurance. Working with our own insurance company was far easier and had a fair outcome than dealing with another company. Hope all works out well for you - and no injuries means nothing is broken that cannot be fixed.

 

[radioman]

I dont get it ? I been in a couple accidents that were not my fault and both times my insurance company went out and got the police report themselves. This is to insure that they have the real thing. Why do YOU have to get the report ? If police arrived on scene and took info then they will write up the repot within 24 hours. My insurance never went up. My insurance checker came out and looked at my vehicles and gave me a check few hours later for full repair minus my deduction. They went after the other insurance party and that was the end of my story other then taking it to the shop for repair. Hopefully it will go this wel lfor you too.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I dont get it ? I been in a couple accidents that were not my fault and both times my insurance company went out and got the police report themselves. This is to insure that they have the real thing. Why do YOU have to get the report ? If police arrived on scene and took info then they will write up the repot within 24 hours. My insurance never went up. My insurance checker came out and looked at my vehicles and gave me a check few hours later for full repair minus my deduction. They went after the other insurance party and that was the end of my story other then taking it to the shop for repair. Hopefully it will go this wel lfor you too.

I just had to tell my insurance company what police station filed the report and the report number so that they made sure they had the correct report. The police officer is the one who gave me all the information I needed before I ever contacted my insurance company so it wasn't an issue. I just called the insurance company, told them what happened and where to get the report.

 

[Cat_Driver]

I had a guy hit me and he left the scene. I took down his plate number and called the police, and they were less than helpful. That day I called the insurance and they said if the damage was less than my $1,000 deductible they wouldn't do a thing.

They came out for an estimate and my, my my, guess what? They estimated the damage at LESS THAN $1000.00 - good bye.

I mean I'm no body man but it sure looked like more than $1000.00 in damage. Now I'm going to have to pay to have this fixed.

I followed up with the cops and they went to the guys house, who said he didn't have insurance, ...so I said fine arrest him, all of a sudden then he did have insurance - huh?

His insurance company came out to give me an estimate and THEY estimated it at $2,600.00, WHAT the opposing insurance company is nearly three times higher than my insurance company?

Then I realized the scam was with my company, they didn't want to do what I was paying them for, so they low ball me and hope things will go away. I hate insurance companies.

Next day I cancelled them, and they were a large company.

 

[RadarTech]

Cat_driver,
I agree... They can be a scam..

now- for the OP...
I learned this lesson some years ago...
I let my insurance deal with it. This saved me from court visits, lawyers etc..
now I did have to pay that $500, which I got back about 6 months or so later as they went thru arbitration.

Long story short-- young college girl in Dad's BMW changed lanes in front of me, and pulled there from the spot in front of a semi at a light changing from green to red. I had enough room to stop until she moved...

It was hilarious that she claimed I hit her so hard I "threw" her car 250 feet and she had no air bags to deploy and neither did I. She drove through the intersection so she would not be sitting in the middle....

My insurance ate her up.... Bad thing- Damage to the Durango was estimated at $1800, wound up at $2700, value was only $4300.. If they estimated right, it would have totaled.... oh well.....

anyway, that's my story....

Let us know what happens...



J

 

[OKnewguy]

The accident report will be ready tomorrow. It was not available at the accident. I am assuming that the accident report will be thoroughly inspected by both insurance companies. We will have to see how things wash out with the insurance companies. I have never heard of using your own insurance for a wreck that was not caused by you (not counting un-insured motorist). If I have this possibility to do this and get my deductible back latter that might be an option that I will pursue. I am just anxious to see what these next days look like, and get a vibe if this is going to be an up-hill battle or not. I hope the car is totaled. I can not fathom how it could ever be brought back to the same level.

Thanks and I will keep everyone up to date.
Dave

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Let's see I have walked away from 6 totaled vehicles so far with only 2 stitches. You always feel like crud after a wreck. Don't worry about the vehicle as long as you and everyone is ok. Vehicles can be replaced.
Your insurance company should be handling all of the paperwork for you. It isn't uncommon for them to want the Accident report. They can get that themselves. But I like to keep on good grounds with my agent. As mentioned they can be really good for you or make you miserable. They shouldn't raise your rates if it is your first accident and especially if you aren't at fault and no DWI involved.
Just hang in there it gets better quickly. You might be sore for a few days getting bounced around like that.

 

[FlaDon]

Had an accident while in Ohio last trip. Reported it to my insurance company and local Ohio agent who then called the other vehicle's ins company. When they got the report, about 2 weeks after I picked one up at the police dept, they took full blame and had an adjuster inspect the truck at the place here in Florida. Differance between the Ohio body shop and local adjuster totaled $7. I bought the new bumper myself and it is on. Found more damage on the bumper cap so I'll get a new one and still pocket the shop costs.

As far as the OP, it could be worse. The driver could have ran as was the case in our Jan 2, 2003 accident that totaled a 6 month old Pontiac Bonneville SE. Our ins co. had to pay for a new car but our rates didn't go up as it wasn't out fault. So sayeth the tattletale chip in the car. Showed full stop before the impact.

 

[jimmyj]

Glad you are OK. I am with the others, I think the dad's insurance should have to pay.

Try and look at the bright side, statistically you've now had your accident so you are done!

I hate insurance dealings....Around here apparently 30% of drivers do not have insurance

Good luck, again, be glad you were not hurt.

 

[eepete]

Here is my tail of woe, and it points out a danger when you're driving an older vehicle:

Coming back from a fire call in the morning, it's light out but raining. I'm in my 1994 Ford Ranger which has 75,000 miles on it but looks like it's brand new. Lady runs a red light. I caught it out of the corner of my eye, but with the rain couldn't stop in time. At least I caught it- I do the "look both ways when coming up on an intersection, then look again" approach. She hit me in the front driver side tire. If I hand't seen her and tried to brake, it would have been a perfect T-bone which never bodes well for the driver. So above all else, I'm lucky with the understanding that being cautious can improve your luck.

She gets out of the car, and starts yelling at me "I know that light wasn't green for both of us". I ask if she or the kids in the car are hurt, she keeps yelling. Police get there, she's still yelling. I was _very_ lucky- a witness that was behind the lady's car stopped and waited for the police. When the officer came back after talking to the witness, and then was talking with the lady (I staying out of ear shot at this point) the lady then turned at the kids and yelled "See, if you kids would behave I wouldn't have been yelling at you and could have seen the red light." This is the only point where her being an idiot worked for me.

The car was unregistered, it had no insurance. The lady's drivers license had been suspended. She went to court, I didn't need to go because of my statement and the witnesses statement. A few months later, I saw the lady still driving around. BTW, gender is irrelevant here, I'm just telling it like it happened.

So my insurance company correctly totaled the vehicle, and then cut me a check for it's depreciated value which was $5K. Of course, there is no way to find a little Ranger that would be in such good condition for that amount. Anyone who had one (like me) would be using it. So $20K later I'm driving a F-150 and am out $15K because of an idiot who won't own up the the truth. No point in suing her, the only thing in her deep pockets is lint.

So other than a vent about this 3 years after the fact, the fun insurance fact here is that when you drive an older, paid for vehicle an idiot can hit you and you're out a lot of money. Full replacement insurance, if it exist, would be too expensive because people like the lady who hit me would "use it" when they wanted a new car. They would only use it once, but that's enough to drive up rates for full replacement insurance. I don't know if you can insure your tractor when towing for full replacement value or not. 20 year old cars are rare, 20 year old tractors are not.

It would be a great planet if you could remove the right 20% of the population.

Pete