Friend had his truck parked along street, it was hit twice in less than 30 minutes.

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Dec 8, 2006
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We had ice on Saturday... first crappy weather of the season. So that means the idiots were out on the roads in full force, and as a result... I kept my butt at home.

Friend had his truck parked on the street, in front of his house... like he has done for years. Residential neighborhood, 30 mph speed limit. It is somewhat of a "collector" street, which does see a higher amount of traffic.

Bam! Car slides into his truck. A teenager comes to the door. Come to find out, it's his accountant's kid. All three of them get on the phone together, accountant Dad agrees to take care of the damages... don't call the cops... don't call the insurance company.

Less than 30 minutes later, a woman slams into his truck, and hits it so hard that she pushes it 40 feet up the street. Not that it wasn't damaged before, but it is *really damaged* now. The cops are definitely called on this accident, since it was painfully obvious that she was driving WAY too fast for conditions, and could have seriously hurt or killed someone if she had hit an occupied vehicle or a pedestrian.

Now he has a huge dilemma on how to determine who is responsible for what damage and how much each should pay for the damage that they caused.

Of course, his accountant friend is pushing on him hard to pin most of the damage onto the second driver who hit it... who clearly had hit it harder. The insurance company for the second driver is pushing back hard on the fact that the truck was already damaged before their insured hit it. And to make it worse, between the two accidents, the truck is now on the verge of being totaled (the frame might be bent) ... so that makes determining a level of fault even more important.

I didn't ask him if he had good pictures of the truck that were taken after accident #1, but before accident #2. If he does, that will be a big help.

I'm so glad that this isn't me...
 
Since the second lady nearly totalled it, he should of kept his mouth shut. Just let her insurance cover it. Wouldn't make much difference either way. How did the second insurance know it had been hit earlier?

The second driver told her insurance company that the truck already had damage to it before she hit it. Of course they don't want to pay out 100% now, since it had already been hit.
 
I fully support the implementation of Germany's licensing system here in the U.S. We need to be rid of the system that allows anybody with a pulse to score a license. Winter driving is perfectly doable if you have a fiber of common sense.
Sorry about your friend's vehicle. Unfortunately it sounds like he's about to draw the short straw in the battle between insurance companies.
 
The second driver told her insurance company that the truck already had damage to it before she hit it. Of course they don't want to pay out 100% now, since it had already been hit.
Good thing the hits were so close together in time, I guess if he has pictures of the first hit he should just send them to all the insurance companies involved and let them sort it out. No need for him to be in the middle.
 
I’ve never seen it fail. Routinely park on the street and sooner or later someone will hit it.
I have street parking (albeit on a dead end street) and I've had my car hit twice in the last 7 or so years, never anything major but someone clearly backed into my car when trying to do a 3 point turn, leaving dents on the driver rear quarter panel.
 
He needs to tell the first driver tough luck, it has gotten complicated and I really need to use my insurance company to protect my interests. Since that is what he has been paying them for.
 
Seems like an easy opportunity for your friend to turn a nice profit. Screw over both drivers in the process. Claim diminished value from the first moron's company at an inflated number and omit the fact that it was hit later, then absolutely go off on the second driver's company. Got to play the field
 
Remind me of this


  1. Roads aren't being cleaned.
  2. Most vehicles have inadequate tires or run whatever their car came with.
  3. Many people don't know how to drive as driving is considered a passive secondary occupation, in addition to whatever else they're doing while sitting in their vehicle.

We had ice on Saturday... first crappy weather of the season. So that means the idiots were out on the roads in full force, and as a result... I kept my butt at home.

Friend had his truck parked on the street, in front of his house... like he has done for years. Residential neighborhood, 30 mph speed limit. It is somewhat of a "collector" street, which does see a higher amount of traffic.

Bam! Car slides into his truck. A teenager comes to the door. Come to find out, it's his accountant's kid. All three of them get on the phone together, accountant Dad agrees to take care of the damages... don't call the cops... don't call the insurance company.

Less than 30 minutes later, a woman slams into his truck, and hits it so hard that she pushes it 40 feet up the street. Not that it wasn't damaged before, but it is *really damaged* now. The cops are definitely called on this accident, since it was painfully obvious that she was driving WAY too fast for conditions, and could have seriously hurt or killed someone if she had hit an occupied vehicle or a pedestrian.

Now he has a huge dilemma on how to determine who is responsible for what damage and how much each should pay for the damage that they caused.

Of course, his accountant friend is pushing on him hard to pin most of the damage onto the second driver who hit it... who clearly had hit it harder. The insurance company for the second driver is pushing back hard on the fact that the truck was already damaged before their insured hit it. And to make it worse, between the two accidents, the truck is now on the verge of being totaled (the frame might be bent) ... so that makes determining a level of fault even more important.

I didn't ask him if he had good pictures of the truck that were taken after accident #1, but before accident #2. If he does, that will be a big help.

I'm so glad that this isn't me...

I would recommend your friend obtain legal counsel and let the lawyer deal with the situation at this juncture. I mean, fair is fair.
 
There's a word for that: Fraud.
And you don't think that insurance companies defraud people every day of the week?

If you don't, I have a bridge to sell you in Sheep Springs, NM.

The mess that he got himself into is that he had a 'handshake deal' on the first accident...
 
And you don't think that insurance companies defraud people every day of the week?

If you don't, I have a bridge to sell you in Sheep Springs, NM.

The mess that he got himself into is that he had a 'handshake deal' on the first accident...
This. Never, ever do this. Always call the police, always take pictures and document what happened.
 
So they are just going to believe the reckless second driver when she said the truck was already damaged? She has no proof of that.
 
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