Questions About Auto Insurance and Accidents

ashwinkumar96

Hi Thanks for all your replies. I guess they require our SSn to do our credit check. Is it a soft check, and a soft hit, or will it affect my credit score. I want to know this as my bank is yet to do a credit check to process my application for the auto loan,

Thanks

dtownfb

Yes your credit report (not the credit score necessarily) will affect your insurance.

euphonium

It is usual for American insurance companies to rate immigrants much higher than citizens because in the case of a catastrophic crash, the foreigner usually bails to his home county to avoid owning up for his negligence and it is difficult and expensive for his insurance company to ferret him out, transport him back here, and make him available for testimony & other court proceedings.

skylab

Works both ways. A foreigner of my acquaintance was seriously injured in an accident caused by the open-and-shut negligence of an employee of a large corporation driving a corporate-owned vehicle. When she filed suit, the first thing that company's attorneys did was dig into her immigration status to see if they could deport their way out of the problem.

Anyway, back on topic...

bwia

"....No eye witness means bad news as the insurance company will not pay the deductible and the $1,100 damage estimate is not sufficient to bring the car back to its original condition. The 2008 Malibu has only 7,900 miles and it was in showroom condition as I had just washed and waxed it.
Any tips for dealing with the insurance?"

Well, I must say I am happy with the outcome. I don't know how they did it but the repair shop convinced the insurance company to pay the extra $2,400 to bring the car back to showroom condition.

The open secret in the repair biz is something they call the supplement. Under that scenario they always find collateral damage not identified in the original estimate. And for some reason the adjuster does not even bat an eye, which leads me to believe perhaps they are working in cohoots with the adjuster getting a kickback from the repair shop. End result, that shady practice drives up the insurance premiums for everybody.

Nonetheless, I am very happy and amazed at how well they can match the paint. That is some amazing technology because you can't tell whether the area was repainted.

petharia

The point & question is simple. Infinity totaled my saturn, state farm's playing games, i only have 30 days in a rental with 1 week left & my adjuster (on conference call w/ me) told off SF adjuster & hung up. Now what ever subragation is (or how ever you spell it) that's what infinity's going to do & he said something about i'd have to pay my 500$ deductible upfront. I don't get it. what's this mean? Smart's don't help me here, & there are no stupid questions, just uniformed people who never needed to know. I drove safely.

petharia

so tell me why I have to pay my deductible when someone else destroyed my car, and why i'll be walking in another week if they don't give me any money for a month. what options do i have in either keeping the rental without out of pocket, and they took responsibility so why am I paying?

oldfarmer50

"...what options do i have..."

I'm no legal expert but can't you sue the other driver in small claims court to recover any loss above what the insurance pays? If the other party only had $25K in coverage and your car was worth 30K is would seem you would be able to sue for the remaining 5K, for example.

If I'm wrong someone let me know.

traindriver

Subrogation basically means that your insurance company is going to pay you off and then they will settle up with the other company after they fight it out later. You get your money from your insurance company so that you can move on to another car without waiting forever. Since you have a deductible of $500 on your policy, your insurance company will withhold $500 from your settlement. When all is settled later, you will (most likely) get your $500 back but it will take some time. (This is how it worked for me about 8 years ago; the other company was not moving fast enough for me.)

Ask your adjuster some more questions on subrogation and how it relates to your specific situation. Once you are paid off, the rental car goes away quickly, if not immediately, so you probably need to do some preliminary car shopping. Hope this helps...

houdini1

In some cases, if you really sweet talk your adjuster, they will waive the deductible in cases like this. I would certainly ask him/her about it.

Since it is your insurer that is instigating the court action I think they should waive your deductible. Just tell him/her that they must be confident that they will win so they will get their money and it would be a extreme hardship for you to come up with the $500. Feel free to tell them that I said so !

euphonium

Reading the "Sweet Talk" endorsement that enables a staff adjuster to have the authority to waive the deductible would be a new one and very interesting.

houdini1

I think I have a copy somewhere.....OK, here you go:

Terms and conditions are amended as follows:

The policy holder shall have the right to make an attempt to "sweet talk" any adjuster into a more favorable disposition of any claim whatsoever provided said policy holder uses only talk and does not resort to physical action.

Sweet Talk End. Form 101

euphonium

Nevada DOI has issued an amendmnet to the endorsement allowing physical action in counties where legal!

houdini1

Works for me !!

jimmydc2

well I'm kinda in a shaking situation...I rear-ended car going about 5-10 mph and the dude that i hit has no insurance, we both exchange information and i don't know if I should call my insurance or talk to the guy and work something out...his car is fine, its just that i got a dent in my hood and my front grill is cracked....any advice..i live in california so if i know each state got their own laws...so any advice would help...thanks

mhageman

About a month ago I had an incident where my 1997 4 runner hydroplaned into a fence. This car, was in mint conditon SR5, the adjuster came out and looked at and gave me approx. 4 grand for the body work. It has a lot of miles at 220,000. But I decided that I would keep it for another year because after I got it back it looked incredible.
I had my truck for 3 days after it was detailed and body work done. I was hit on the freeway by someone without a license or to find out later no insurance. For some reason I did not have rental insurance on my car ( find this out 2 weeks after I have been told their insurance company will pay for my rental.). They hit me from behind and flipped my 4 runner several times. It landed sideways on the driver side. Great vehicle saved my life.
The insurance company offered me initially 5,000 minus the deductible. I said no, I also put new breaks and new tires on about a month before this accident. I understand that it had miles. But as I said it was mint. They counter offered me with 5,214. 28. Flat not minus the deductible. I feel the car was worth at least 7,000.00 . Am I out of line. I mean a month before the accident they thought it was in great enough shape, miles and all to have the body work done due to hydroplaning. Should I accept this last offer?

qbrozen

I don't understand. If his car is fine, what is there to work out with him?

As for your own car, depends on how the dent is and what your deductible is. If the repair is simply banging out a dent and replacing the grille, its probably not worth going through your insurance and risking a rate increase.

qbrozen

I don't care the condition, I think $5k is generous on a 12-year-old 220k mile 4runner. I've seen ones with far fewer miles that I can buy for $7k.

mhageman

Thanks, I just needed some input. It just was unfortunate that it was in perfect condition. I have never been anything like this before.

euphonium

Because the other guy violated the CA Financial Responsibility Law by being “involved” in a crash without insurance…………..

Tell him you will not report him to the state if he pays for the repair of your car. IOW, you will not fill out a state accident form that includes insurance information for yourself, that he can NOT match.

His inability to show a matching and comparable form with the DL, that evidences financial responsibility, will eventually cause him to lose his license.

To preserve his license, he should pay your damages realizing he should not be on the road without financial responsibility. :mad:

fezo

I've been in your shoes before. Fortunately long enough ago that it doesn't raise my blood pressure any more.

Having never had any more than a fender bender and still never an at fault accident I had two cars totaled in three months time. One was flooded and the other was a guy who ran a stop sign and t-boned me. In both cases these were cars that in theory weren't worth much but were utterly valuable to me. The flooded (with salt water in the engine!) Nissan Sentra fetched a whopping $1,400. The t-boned Accord was maybe $4,200. I did ask for more because I was able to show major work just done on it (replaced brakes and a coupel of things like that) and they upped it a bit not that much.

I was ready to hold out longer but then the insurance folks let me know they'd be pulling the rental on Friday. I countered with "give me the weekend to buy a car and I'll come right to your office, sign off and pick up the check." That's what we did.

wlbrown9

"Tell him you will not report him to the state if he pays for the repair of your car. IOW, you will not fill out a state accident form that includes insurance information for yourself, that he can NOT match. "

What if he says "Accident? What accident? " Where do you go from there?

I know he violated the law by driving without insurance and should be punished, but what can you really do? Other than turn him in and if the state does not do much then he is not really out. We have the same laws here in Tn but a bunch of drives that disregard those laws as well. Maybe we should be proactive instead of reactive.

oldfarmer50

"...any advice would help..."

Sorry for the late arrival. I must of forgot to pay my bribes...er...dues to the Edmunds hosts because they said the system was down for "maintaince".

Anyway, did you have any police at the scene to make out a report? Could be very helpful if the person you tapped suddenly comes down with "lawsuit neck" and tries to sue you.

Otherwise, the advice given is pretty good.

oldfarmer50

"...Should I accept this last offer?..."

I would take that offer and run like a thief. If I thought I could get that kind of money for an old bucket like that, I would crash it myself. :sick:

jimmydc2

so what you are saying is that even though I rear-ended him, he's still at fault for not having insurance in the first place....?.....what if he tries to sue me for the accident for injuries.....? and if i do go to court do you think i have a chance at winning even though i've caused the accident...?......the reasons that i'm asking this is because if I'm just a little concern that when i ask him to pay for my repairs he's gonna reply " you're at fault for hitting me".....then what...? let my insurance take care of it or is he really at fault for not haveing insurance in the first place.......i know he violate the law and he'll probably lose his licsense but if he could sue me for injuries for X-amount of dollars ...will i lose in court....? once again any advice would help...thanks

jimmydc2

so far no police reports and so far no witnesses....so if he does try to sue me.....how does it look....? i know i caused the accident but is he really at fault for not having insurance in the first place....? will that statement held up in court....? thanks

Mr_Shiftright

I'd say if you hear a peep out of him, report him immediately to DMV. How the hell did he register his car without insurance? Or how did he get to keep his registration if he bought insurance and cancelled it? Aren't you required in your state to report an accident if it exceeds X dollar amount?

Next time, if someone can't show you an insurance card, or your car suffers significant damage, call the police immediately.

I wasn't there, so I can't make the judgment if you did the right thing or not. For myself, given how weird things are these days, if i were you, and my car was damaged, and I struck someone from behind, I think I would have reported it to the cops and my insurance company.

But given the guy's precarious insurance situation, you're probably okay doing what you did---but your car isn't unfortunately.

mhageman

Thanks for the reply. The thing that gets me mad is that they were hipanic driving without drivers license, driving without insurance even though they showed a bogus insurance info.
Finally get some answers from the trooper, they just now issued them a ticket and they have 10 days to respond. The accident happened Oct. 25th., They could be long gone. Our system is so broken down. I am all for people coming to our country if they are law abiding. But from what the trooper told me is that they get insurance and than cancel it after getting their tabs. Here in Minnesota. I think they should impound your car immediately after cancelling any insurance until you can prove you replaced it. This is an atrocity that people can come into our country, work, not pay insurance and drive around without any consequences. And if something happens like my accident that could have killed me. They are out of here. I will be amazed if I get a day in court from them, or restitution. Thanks for the info, and for letting me rant....

oldfarmer50

"...they showed bogus insurance info..."

Isn't it great that anyone can sneak across our borders and get all the fake identification they need? Makes you feel really safe. I'm sure that terrorists and criminals can't get those documents, only honest hard-working immigrants.

There is one positive side to this though. A few years ago a woman pulled out in front of my son without her lights on and he struck the rear of her car. Nothing serious but fenders were dented.

When he told me that he had struck the rear of her car I immediately thought "oh boy, here comes the lawsuit". But then he told me the woman (who spoke with a heavy foreign accent) only asked if he was OK before getting back in her car and driving away. Either she was very kind or very illegal. :confuse:

mhageman

For some reason my guess would be illegal. But I am happy your son was okay, and did not have your insurance rates go up. So we can continue to be paying the price of others without insurance.

euphonium

Two issues involved:

1. The other guy driving without insurance, violates the FR law.

2. You crashed into him & you are at fault for that, but driving without insurance trumps an at fault crash because you can lose your license for no insurance, but causing a crash doesn't impact your license standing when you are insured.

Therefore, when the uninsured values his licenses, he is to pay for the damages to your vehicle. When he pays for your cost of repair, you then sign a Release which is submitted to the DOL enabling his license to be continued.

kyats

My 17 year old was involved in a fender bender and he was at fault for failure to yield.
Thankfully there were no injuries, but both vehicles suffered minor damage. In an effort to minimize the insurance increase, should I pay for the repairs to both vehicles and not submit the claim? The other person involved was insured and had only minor damage to her passenger side door...which the State Trooper said would only need bumped out. This is my first ever insurance claim so what suggestions would you have?

qbrozen

You can try. You'll have to ask the other party if they will refrain from calling their or your insurance company, too. But you also have to pay for that person's rental while their car is being repaired. And the repairs may cost more than you anticipate. If you are going that route, you'll definitely want estimates first.

Personally, when folks have offered to pay outside of insurance, I say "no thanks." Reason being if damages are more extensive than originally thought, what recourse would I have? And then there is that rental issue I mentioned. So its a big risk for the victim. Of course, I've never had minor damage in these cases. Cheapest was $2400.

oldfarmer50

"...driving without insurance trumps an at fault crash..."

That's exactly what I was wondering...interesting.

From a practical standpoint would it be wise to go after this guy for repairs on your car? I mean, someone who can't afford to insure his own car probably can't afford to pay to fix yours.

Also, if the guy is just a bum who thinks he's too good to buy insurance he might be the type to take exception to someone who hits him trying to make him pay for damage he didn't cause. Messing with his license might provoke a violent response from such an individual.

oldfarmer50

"...what suggestions would you have..."

I had the same thing happen to me a few years ago. While teaching my son to drive he stepped on the gas instead of the brake and hit a van owned by a convent. I went inside the place and offered to pay for their damages. They accepted, got an estimate and I paid. All was done with a handshake.

In your situation your son hit an occupied vehicle and even though you say there were no injuries who is to say that when the other party has time to think about it they don't suddenly come down with some crippling injury. If that happens they have your agreement to pay for ALL damages. You could be looking at a much bigger payout.

Also, there was police involvement. That means a public record which places your son at fault. If your insurance company should learn about this and you have withheld that information you could be looking at a rate increase even if you didn't make a claim.

Not saying any of that would happen but it's something to consider.

Mr_Shiftright

It depends on the damage to the other car. State troopers are not bodywork experts. His idea of "bumping it out" could be totally off the wall. These days, at least where I live, a deep groove in a door is a $1500 repair EASY. Many dents do not "pull", they have to be worked from the inside, and sometimes you have to re-skin the door or install a salvage one. Then there's the paint-matching issue.

So it depends on the other person's damage, the type of car, and their expectations.

Just as a ballpark, if you can get away under $1,500 on both cars without reporting anything, and given what they might do to your rates if a 17 year old is claimed against in an accident, then I'd try to work it out privately.

Your son can always work off the damage he did with chores or whatever. Now's a great time to imprint that actions have consequences in the "adult" world.

euphonium

Old Farmers advice in Post 4132 is very good.

Minor fender benders when the adverse vehicle is vacant could be handled w/o the insurance company's involvement, but in this case, I'd turn it in.

jimmydc2

first of all ...I just want to thank everyone for their advices..... well its come to this...the guy that i hit isn't planning on paying for my damages....my insurance is taking care of my damages and they're telling me that I might have to go to small-claims court.....because the other guy is suing me for damages to his car.....NOW here's my question....

1: I rear-ended him
2: he has no insurance when the accident occured
3: and I don't think he cares about his license being revoke because he's counter-suing me for harssment and damages to his car...
4: WILL I WIN THE CASE in court....?

---so far i have 3 people telling me that i will win in court due to the fact that he's automatically at fault because he was an un-insured motorist...and its illegal in the state of california.....BUT there's a guy on a different forum telling me that I will lose because being insured or uninsured doesn't matter..,because I caused the accident...I rear-ended him....and 99% of rear-ended collusion..the guy that hits you will lose in court...in court being insured and uninsured isn't relevent...the fact of the matter that this accident happened .was because i was following too close pretty much tail-gating and thats how i hit him....seems like he's lawyer..but who knows...any how......so now i'm kinda frustrated.....does anyone know a good lawyer or is there anyone a laywer on this forum who could give me some advices...?....please anything will help...thanks a bunch

houdini1

I am not an attorney but here are my thoughts:

First, he can't counter sue you unless you sue him first so I assume he is just threatening to c/s you because you probably said you would sue him. In his situation I think this is an empty threat to scare you off, else he would sue first.

If he does sue you, well, your insurer will have to pay. That's what insurance is for. Then I am certain your insurer would sic the authorities on him. I would relate all of this to him and give him one more chance to pay up. You have nothing to lose. Of course I could be wrong.

mikefm58

Here's what I'd do if it were me. I'd put my damages on my ins. policy. You did rear end him, so the accident was your fault. Going after him in court just because he's not insured, in my opinion is not right, since after all you did rear end him.

I'd also tell him you're not paying for his damages. If he wants to take it public and sue you, then that's his option and he'll have to go in front of a judge admitting he's not insured. A judge will throw the book at him for that, so I seriously doubt he will pursue this. And he'll be dealing with your ins co, not you.

kyfdx

This sounds like good advice..

I'm not a lawyer, but threatening to turn someone in, if they don't pay for an accident that wasn't their fault to begin with? That sounds like extortion.. :surprise:

Mr_Shiftright

Anyone can sue anyone for anything in Small Claims Court. Often the "judge" isn't even a judge in Small Claims.

Just file a claim then to get your own car fixed under your comprehensive coverage and let your insurance company handle everything. They can figure out what they will or won't do for this guy.

The court system is not about justice or fairness, get that out of your head. It's about maneuvers, in my opinion. For him to sue you is a very bad maneuver, and for you to personally go after him is a futile exercise IMO.

Make a claim and forget about that deadbeat is my advice.

Visiting Host

the_big_al

Irregardless of whether he was insured or not, you caused the accident. Not really a big deal, it wasn't a major one and accidents do happen. That is why you have insurance. Rather than try and get out of something that you should technically be responsible for, I would just let your insurance handle it. You hit him, caused a little damage and so now your insurance (what you pay them for) should take care of it....

oldfarmer50

"...Make a claim and forget about that deadbeat is my advice..."

Good advice. I agree.

jimmydc2

once again thanks a bunch......pretty much i'm gonna report it to my insurance company and let them deal with it...if i do end up going to court then i guess i'll have too....thanks for all of your advices....i'll post up what happens in a few weeks

fezo

Best of luck. Will be interested in seeing how it plays out.

lilyowen

I know I'm late in the game, but I'd like to put my C-note on your carrier paying for the damages to the other party, and you hearing nothing more of this.

Now, there are states that have enacted "pay to play" laws that would in some twisted reality make you not liable for rear-ending another party when they have no insurance; however, even these laws do not make the uninsured party liable, they simply prohibit them from collecting from the negligent party (in this case: you).

I'm all for people having insurance ... in fact, I'm all for impounding vehicles of people that do not have insurance. But the simple lack of insurance has no bearing whatsoever on your negligence while following too closely. My money is on your carrier paying and you getting dinged with an at fault accident.

marsha7

straight, a poster (Driver #1) rear-ended another driver (Driver #2), and the rear-ended driver (Driver #2) was uninsured...so, Driver #1 thinks they are not at fault because the driver they struck had no insurance???...if my facts are correct, the post is beyond ridiculous...unless they cut you off, rearending someone will virtually ALWAYS place you at fault for causing the wreck, plain and simple...

What usually happens, here in GA anyway, is that Driver #2 is also cited for failure to have insurance, which carries a fine here of $200-$1000...but that in no way changes fault in the wreck...

That uninsured driver has every right to have their car fixed by the poster's insurance, and collect damages for any injuries suffered...

In fact, aside from being cited for no insurance, the entire process should proceed as tho nobody knew they were uninsured...just because I have no insurance takes away NONE of my rights if you rear-end me...I have simply committed an infraction that causes me to pay a fine, but my rights against your negligence are unchanged, and, regardless of my insurance or not, you ARE at fault for my damages...

Now, if I had struck you, everything would change, but that is not the the situation, if I understand correctly...

I am amused at what folks will do to relieve themselves of their own carelessness...

houdini1

I agree with everything you say...if those were the facts and the intent. But as I recall, the person who was rear ended had no injuries and no damage to his car so I don't think our original poster was trying to shirk his responsibility. He was merely trying to figure out how to get his own damage repaired in the least costly manner. At least that was my understanding.

paisan

In some states no insurance or dwi or a few other offenses actually does make that person wrong, no matter ho would be in the wrong if they were not committing such infactions.

-mike
Subaru Guru and Track Instructor