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Comments
As I'm on the border of WA & OR, I've taken courses in both states, but don't remember which of the two if not both had the clause.
euphonium: "Step father can sign a specific driver exclusion endorsement excluding the step son from coverage when driving step fathers vehicles"...as I understand it, if step father specifically excludes step son than in no way can he LEGALLY drive stepfathers vehicles...then I am sure that stepfather may be held liable for son's wreck, because he cannot lower his premium by excluding someone and then allow that someone to drive his car placing the public at risk...altho I have run into folks that play dumb and do it all the time...naturally, they are the ones who live in a tent, work for cash, and are judgment proof anyway...maybe for those folks we can re-institute the public hanging or draw-and-quartering...:):):)
I would appreciate any and all help.
He could have borrowed his girl friend's car and doesn't want his wife to know.
I would be surprised if your Property Damage Liability coverage contains a deductible.
mercury wants to pay me for my medical bills but doesn't want to pay me for time lost from work to have the car taken to the body shop from san jose to san francisco. am i out of luck for my time off of work?
thanks! :mad:
Undecided in Mass.
Are you in a position to buy another vehicle right now?
Can you pocket the $2900 and just drive it as is?
Bear in mind that if you keep the car, with a salvage title it is, essentially, worthless in terms of a future resale.
Don't forget to have them add sales tax too.
I'm curious as to where the $3800 "book value" comes from as price guides vary. The more accurate measurement is how much it would cost you to go out now and buy a comparable one - in other words, what's the local market? Whatever the figure is (whether $3800, $4300, $2500), THAT is how much you should get (plus sales tax).
just trying to get a second opinion... i guess they should not be obligated to pay for my body shop of choice...
Agree with you about having it fixed where you have confidence in the workmanship.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
patsfan: this is interesting, once again, truth stranger then fiction...I am assuming that you did not suffer any injuries, unless I missed that sentence...I would guess that you SHOULD be able to drop off the car at any Enterprise location as it is their fault that you needed it...I am surprised that they are towing it to a Nissan dealer in CT...I would think that you COULD demand an additional $250 +/- for your time in driving, but I cannot be sure that they will pay it, altho I would think it is incumbent upon them to compensate you for your inconvenience caused by their negligent insured...but, if they do not, is it worth it for you to pursue the guy in Magistrate Court. probably not...but since their driver told Geico that he did back up, maybe they will be a little nicer...you might try being nice with the adjuster, and maybe you will get a check in the mail for lost time...
BTW, do NOT sign any bodily injury releases for a few months until you are sure that no one claims any latent (hidden) injuries...you know, like when you work in the yard on Sat but don't wake up in pain until the following Wed...
Could also check doctor's records if you claimed an injury, as they would have access to their file if you are still an active patient, they would note your date of accident if you saw them for any complaints...
Could also check the body shop that repaired your car, as they would have records of claim numbers, date of accident, etc...
If the car was totalled, and, say, you remember buying your new car 2 days after the wreck, go to the dealer that sold you the car and ask for the purchase date, and then backdate the 2 days or whatever...if you financed thru GMAC or Ford, they will know the date you took out the loan, which will give you the date of purchase...
If you were ambulanced to the ER, they may have billing records, and your group health carrier may also have that info on computer archives...
My guess, if you did claim injury, is to go to the treating doctor, as they will have your file the most handy if you are still an active patient w/o having to search 5 year old archives, as they may have treatment cards sitting in your file that reflect the date...
Last thought...if an attorney represented you in the wreck for damage or injury, they may have their file handy and can also tell you the date...
Sorry, that is all I can come up with at this time...
We don't have an agent. We are insured by the AARP's insurance company (Hartford) but I think they are overcharging us enormously, so I am shopping for new insurance for our upcoming new car.
Thanks.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Also, is there any advantage to using an agent for car insurance? We do it directly but I can't remember why. I think we decided when we signed up for AARP's medical insurance and just responded to one of their car insurance offers. We do have an agent who handles our homeowner's insurance.
I'd imagine you may be able to have all 3 policies from 3 different insurance companies. Personally, I don't recommend that as it could cause problems if you ever need to file a claim (eg, each company claims the other is responsible for paying you).
We have both our homeowners and auto through the same company. I'm looking into getting an umbrella policy, as well, but they first require that I increase the coverage of our basic policies, so that's in the works now, then I'll go from there.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
While I may be wrong on this, it is my understanding that Company B will not issue an umbrella to add to Company A's basic policy...so, I do not believe that State Farm will issue an umbrella to cover Hartford's basic policy...if if I am wrong, and they will ISSUE it, it may be seriously difficult to get the umbrella to pay, because they may argue that Company A did not defend their claim properly, causing a judgment to be in excess of their policy, yet at no cost to them...
I would shop around for a solid company (I do not trust AARP for ANYTHING)...then use them to cover home, auto, and get your umbrella to cover basic liability AND the UM portion of your auto policy...then you can sleep at night...
Marsha, in post 1875, has the best advice. I dropped AARP membership a long time ago and don't miss it.
I'm going to hijack my own topic to rant about AARP. This is all actually for my parents, and I too don't understand the blind devotion. Compared to what I am learning here, they are underinsured for liability, overinsured for collision, and their deductible should be higher. Worst of all, I think they are overpaying to the tune of thousands. The discrepancies I saw were so huge that I was sure it was my own mathematical error.
I am reserving judgment till I sit down with their agent. So far I just used the online quote tools and I know the numbers may change when we draft a policy. But what I saw until now boggled my mind.
The Hartford (AARP's car insurance partner) quoted me $9,000+ annual premium for the new car we are considering. The policy includes a ~$1,000 surcharge for two accidents, as well as various discounts (defensive driver's course, renewal credit, etc.). Yet every single online quote tool I used (about 5 in all) came to just over $4,000 for the same coverage. I was very careful, too, to compare "apples to apples," entering the same info that the Hartford used (accident dates & details, etc.). I might be able to rationalize a discrepancy of a few hundred, but a $4,000 difference begs a few questions, to say the least.
I am glad we had this opportunity, where we are helping my parents with the logistics of buying a new car, to be alerted to what's been going on. Thankfully they understand that it would be prudent to get some help, and I know I will rest much easier after we go to an agent to review - and revise as necessary - all their coverage.
Thanks again for the help.
There is very little that AARP can get in discounts that cannot be had by many other ways...I just believe that AARP is beyond a ripoff, and I also believe that the next upcoming generation of seniors, the boomers, will be much more knowledgeable than the current bunch...
Boomers are the ones who learned to question authority, who do not blindly follow what an MD says because he/she is an MD, look to alternative health care, and are computer literate...they will realize quickly that AARP offer them nothing that cannot be had elsewhere...
The catch: You will find a company who will quote you their rates for your folks and their driving record, BUT that does not mean that company will offer coverage.
Two chargeable crashes and two geriatric drivers is not easy to place with any company economically. The challenge is furthered by insuring an expensive luxury car.
The best leverage for your folks is getting the same company covering the home and other valuables to write the auto insurance containing a "Package" discount, but remember to get the replacing company to guarantee covering the autos at a much lower rate.
Very high premiums usually have a rehabilitation effect causing the risk to be much safer, hence, very profitable to the company.
Hartford told us that one of the accidents will drop off the radar next time the policy is renewed. The other accident, actually, was mine, and I can’t even blame it on old age
The question of driving and old age weighs on my mind, though. We have only one geriatric driver, since we managed to pry the keys out of Dad’s fingers a few years ago. I dread the day my mother will have to stop driving too. We are starting to help them out around the house as much as they will allow, but being able to drive themselves is really the dividing line, more than anything else, that lets them stay independent and manage on their own. As it is, my mother doesn’t drive at night (which merits an insurance discount) or in bad weather, and when they go a bit further than the neighborhood (i.e., highway driving), we generally try to schedule it so I can take them.
marsha7 – what you said about the AARP: word. Brilliant racket; they know exactly how to cater to every vulnerability of that age group.
It sounds like your insurance is on the hook for repairing the automobile under the collision coverage you paid for and then you can try to go after the other driver. I assume your state may have cited them?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I know I am boring any regulars on this site, to the point of them flaming me, but...
Carry medpay (assuming that your state has it), carry liability (usually mandatory, by law), and carry uninsured motorists and rental car insurance...keep all this even if your car is paid off and you drop collision and comprehensive coverage...
I guess what bothers me is that everytime someone posts a problem, it almost seems to frequently v\center around the very coverage that they neglected to purchase, thinking they were "saving money" by not buying the insurance, that would have covered the very problem they now have, the very problem they probably thought "this can't happen to me"...and it happened to them...
Most folks, IMO, should carry all the above riders for the very simple reason that most folks are not sitting around with an extra $10k-20K to pay their own meds, pay their own collision repairs, pay their own car rental when they may not be working...the insurance helps to diffuse that risk by insuring you if it happens...
While some things can be ripoffs, most of the riders to an auto insurance policy have real value, and can really pay off in case of a wreck...I cannot think of anything in an auto policy that is not usable in a wreck...
From the research we've done, it looks like the car could be worth anywhere from $3000 to $5000, but we're guessing it will be on the low side as we use this car for transporting food and it is only in fair condition. Our concern is that we use this van for business and can't afford to buy a new one unless we get the higher figure to use for a downpayment or that amount to repair it as that is what the estimate said it would be.
We are very worried because losing this car will affect our livelihood and don't know what to do. Any suggestions as to how we should proceed and how likely it will be that it will be considered totalled?
We are so grateful for any suggestions or information.
I would try to nail down a price for the vehicle using the NADA book at the bank. Then use that figure as a benchmark with the body shop.
And they're also liable for your lost business as well.
A couple of questions:
1. Is the NADA book at the bank the same info. as is available online?
2. How do we deal with the lost business issue? I'm not quite sure how to figure that out as we did use the dented van. The problem is that we can't continue to do that as it does not give a good impression and that is important in what we do.
3. Should we tell the insurance company person that we have that $5000 estimate or see what they say?
In the abstract world of dreamland, you can recover for lost business...in reality it probably will be unlikely...you will have to prove that you would have earned the income, and if you are self employed it will be almost impossible...sure, you can produce tax returns for three years, and arrive at an "average" amount, but the truth is that you can never prove that you would have generated any business at all...like my office, I cannot prove that if I was off 2 weeks for disability, that my office would have recieved any phone calls that turned into business...I can estimate, I can average, but I cannot PROVE that I would have taken in one client...
Whereas if you work for someone else, that employer CAN certify that they had work for you, that you would have been paid $17.53 per hour, and they would have employed you for 40 hours weekly...
Good luck with this, but you may end up on the short end of the stick...
There must be at least 100 of them in the autoshopper every week around here.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I was rear ended on 11/1/04 in NH (by the wife of someone who works for my company no less) and within 2 hours of the accident noticed back and neck pain that has persisted for 18 months through different treatments. Because of the sensitivity of this situation, my naivety in thinking I would “just get better”, and no prior experience with a car accident where I suffered injury, I did not consult a lawyer. Further, I did not realize the $5K coverage on my own auto insurance could cover my medical expenses even if the other person was insured (I know, I’ve already given myself a great big D’oh!). I called my insurance within two hours of the accident and they told me if the other person was at fault, to go through her insurance, so that's what I did.
So for 18 months, I have been using my health insurance to cover my expenses with the assumption I would be reimbursed by the other person’s insurance (Geico) once I recovered. Well now I know I could have used MedPay to cover these expenses without subrogation so I recently initiated a claim through my auto insurance, and they are actually considering it after all of these months. My health insurance on the other hand has sent me several subrogation notices.
So my questions are these:
1. If my auto insurance (MetLife) accepts the claim and agrees to pay my medical expenses, can my health insurer send subrogation paperwork to MetLife (my auto insurance) instead of Geico (her auto insurance)? I would rather my auto cover the full sum of expenses rather than just my out of pocket copays and some chiropractic care.
2. I can’t find reference in my auto policy about MedPay covering missed work days due to injury. Does anyone know if I can submit a MedPay claim for ‘lost wages’ even if I used sick/vacation time for the days I needed to take?
3. I’m settling the claim myself with Geico. Can someone tell me when I calculate my special damages, do I use the full amount billed to my insurance from the medical providers or the negotiated amount they ultimately pay the doctors (the ‘normal and customary’ allowed amounts)?
4. When requesting reimbursement from Geico (her insurance) for missed work, can I include a calculation that takes into account the numerous doctor/PT/Chiro appointments that caused me to be out of work for between 45 mins to 2 hours a pop or do I just use these expenses to illustrate my inconvenience?
I greatly appreciate any information you can provide. I have a few books but they don’t seem to fully answer some of these specific questions.
Your medpay told you to go thru the other carrier because they do not want to pay anything...but medpay is 1st party coverage, you bought it and you can use it to pay for treatment bills regardless of who is at fault, and it usually covers everybody in your vehicle...
As the attorney, I would be the one to send your MetLife bills to Medpay, have the checks made out to Met and mailed to me, so that I can verify payment and then send off to Met...will they do this directly???...I don't know, but I cannot see why they wouldn't...
Lost wages are covered only by the liability carrier, so your wages should be documented and included with your demand to Geico...
Damages: take the full amount of the charges, multiply by 4 (ridiculous multiple, but why not try???) and add lost wages...so, $2000 in treatment times 4 is $8000, plus $950 in lost wages equals a demand of $9,000.00 (I am assuming no facial scarring, no broken bones, no permanent disability, no lost limbs, just simple neck and back pain, the kind usually well treated by the chiropractor)
Unless you have already screwed up and told Geico about Met or Medpay, they have NO RIGHT to know if your bills have been paid by anybody...this is NOT a means to ripoff anyone, but your damages are your damages...if your bills were $2000 you have the right to submit your damages at $2000, because Geico has no right to reduce your just compensation simply because you were smart enough to buy medpay and reduce your bills...after all, if medpay pays your bills at 100%, balance zero, should Geico walk away scot free???...no...this is a concept never understood by laypeople...
When you submit your bills to geico, go to each doctor and hospital and ask for a itemized billing statement of charges, and ask them to delete any payments from the bills, as Geico should not be given the knowledge of payment...here in GA we call it the collateral source rule, meaning that the liability carrier has no right to know if your bills were paid by any collateral source like group or medpay...
You will generally not be reimbursed for the time out of work for appointments, but you sorta fudge that when making your demand...if you really had $2000 in bills and $950 in lost wages like my example above, I would assume your case would settle for somewhere between $4000 and $8000, a broad range I know, but there is no "science to these things...naturally, if medpay pays your bills, the amount that WOULD have paid your bills from Geico will go straight into your pocket, an amount many hundreds or thousands more than the medpay premiums, hence my constant reco for medpay, if available in your state...
Another example...if your meds were $4500 and lost wages were $2000, don't be afraid of higher demands...4500 times 4 equals $18,000, plus $2000 equals $20,000 demand...if these were your numbers, I would expect to settle for a range of about $9000 to $12000...but an adjuster in a generous mood could easily offer $15-16K, maybe more...I will always repeat, there is no science to this...
Also, if they already know that your bills ARE paid, they WILL use that knowledge against you, which is why attys always withhold that info because we know how the system works, but laypeople want to be as "helpful" as they can, and reveal evereything possible that can hurt their claim, in their zest and zeal to answer Geico's questions...lawyer know how they can screw you, most folks do not know...
Good luck and let me know how it worked for you...I hope these answers were helpful...