Got rear ended in the Mazda 3

[JDD]

2010 Mazda 3----------
Waiting to turn right at a stop sign and a lady talking on her cell phone hits me from behind in her 3 ton Ford LeBehemoth SUV. Moved me forward 5-6 feet. I thought for sure there would be a lot of damage for how hard it felt, but there is only minor damage. Frankly, I was shocked at how little damage there was. I have to have the bumper cover removed to see what it looks like under the cover. It's been 10 days and her insurance company, AAA has been very non-responsive. Won't call me back and the one time I did get ahold of the adjuster, he said that they hadn't been able to contact her and couldn't do anything until he does. I wish I had the adjuster like the one on their radio commercials that does everything but drop off the rental car to your driveway. Anyway, the 5 MPH crash test engineering in this car really amazed me.

 

[Nick R]

Why don't you have your insurance agent contact her? They usually handle claims like that, and deal with the other company.

 

[austinlunsford]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Why don't you have your insurance agent contact her? They usually handle claims like that, and deal with the other company.

i agree. hopefully if your agent can get in touch with them things will start rolling. sorry about your 3, man.

 

[synthetic_crazy]

I agree let the insurance agents deal directly here. That is why you pay them such high premiums; make them work for you.

 

[KrisZ]

Yep, don't even try to chase it yourself, contact your insurance agent.

Regarding you poor Mazda, the damage may look minor from the outside, but there could be more than meets the eye. Make sure all doors and trunk/hatch open and close as before, windows have no cracks and put the car on a lift to inspect the undercarriage. Also make sure they check the alignment.

 

[Thermo1223]

Well you sound better off than we were but the car minus some paint issues was good as new.

 

[Mustang_Cougar]

Generally, if you hand it off to your insurance company (if you have an actual agency, they'll still refer to the carrier), they're going to open a claim (which makes insureds who feel the other party is at fault nervous), and...if there is still no response or an untimely response...you'll have to use your own collision coverage (which means paying your deductible and hoping for reimbursement from the other party). Not all insurance companies operate that way, but it's pretty much SOP for most.

Also, it is true that the other insurance company will not admit fault or move on the claim if they can't make first-contact w/their insured. It's pretty ridiculous, but I've seen it drag out like that forever; people get fed up and eventually file a claim on their own policy. To be fair though, all insurance companies have these sort of dead-beat insureds...some people just won't do the right thing.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: Mustang_Cougar
you'll have to use your own collision coverage


Perhaps you meant "uninsured motorist" coverage?

Collision coverage pays for damage that you do to your own car that is your fault.

Uninsured motorist coverage pays for damage that another driver does to your car that is their fault, when they either have no insurance or their insurance company is non-responsive.

 

[sciphi]

We had a "minor" incident with the Fit. Somebody pulled out into our Fit from a side road while it was driving down the main road. The driver and policeman who responded agreed it was the other driver's fault, that the damage wasn't more than $200, and they shouldn't involve insurance. "Just some road rash, and pop that bumper cover back on", they said. We involved insurance immediately since the bumper cover was visibly askew, and we were worried about bumper/front clip damage. $1300 later, it was fixed as good as new.

We had to involve our own insurance and pay the comprehensive deductible at first while our insurance settled matters with the other insurer. We got the deductible back after everything was settled, and only had to pay for gas for the rental vehicle.

Moral of the story: Involve your own insurance now. That's what you pay them for.

 

[Mustang_Cougar]

Originally Posted By: brianl703
Originally Posted By: Mustang_Cougar
you'll have to use your own collision coverage


Perhaps you meant "uninsured motorist" coverage?

Collision coverage pays for damage that you do to your own car that is your fault.

Uninsured motorist coverage pays for damage that another driver does to your car that is their fault, when they either have no insurance or their insurance company is non-responsive.

I worked for Safeco/Liberty Mutual and I never heard of or serviced a claim that allowed for the application of uninsured/underinsured coverages for a "non-responsive" clmt/clmt carrier. Granted, how coverages are applied (and what sort of coverages are available) run the gamut, thanks to every state having different laws governing insurance. But typically we would advise our insd, when they appeared to be the aggrieved party, to wait out the situation as long as they felt comfortable when dealing w/the clmt carrier; if they chose chose not to or were fed up w/the clmt carrier, they could file under their own collision coverage (which entailed opening a claim and paying damages beyond their deductible). If they chose the latter, they most often would get their vehicle fixed much quicker and, if they had rental coverage, a better rental vehicle (when going through the clmt carrier, many states have bare-minimum rental requirements...some as low as $22/day). Additionally, we would attach the request for reimbursement of the insd's coll deductible into the filing against the clmt carrier (one less headache for our insd).

But again, many of these things depend upon the state you live in...not all insurance commissions are created equal. Uninsured/undersinsured coverages are like flood insurance: Nobody wants to offer them and it's only the individual state commissions/commissioners that are forcing them to do so ("if you want to sell coll/comp in our state, you'll offer x-number of uninsured, medpay, SR22 policies to our citizens" ). In states where commissions are weak...and when I say weak, I mean they are friendly to the industry...it's amazing how little you get for your premiums.

BTW: I've been in the exact situation that OP is...except the damages to our rear bumper were she said" situation...and I paid out-of-pocket for the repairs.

 

[brianl703]

In Virginia those situations where the other driver denies everything are covered under uninsured motorist coverage..and it doesn't count against you come renewal time (a "non-chargeable" claim)

A collision claim does count against you (is "chargeable"), but as I mentioned previously would only be used to cover damage to your car that you caused. I did actually have to make a claim under the uninsured motorist coverage when the F150 behind me hit my car, denting the trunk lid, and drove off. Despite getting the license plate and a description of the driver, the police couldn't/wouldn't do anything so State Farm covered it under the uninsured motorist coverage.

 

[eljefino]

Read your policy. YOUR POLICY. You typically have to let your insurance co know about any accidents within 48 hours. Doesn't matter who's at fault, or if you got X dollars worth of damage, or if you have liablity coverage only. You have to let them know.

They might not be able to do anything for you right off, but your policy is a contract, and you need to hold up your end of things.

 

[rationull]

This situation is a downer and I wish you luck.

I just wanted to say that I've got a friend with a 2004 or 2005 Mazda3 who was rear ended on the freeway at a pretty reasonable clip. It fixed up good as new, I think only the bumper had to be replaced. He was pretty impressed with the car's crashworthiness too.

I hope all is well with the car and it didn't take too much damage!

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Read your policy. YOUR POLICY. You typically have to let your insurance co know about any accidents within 48 hours. Doesn't matter who's at fault, or if you got X dollars worth of damage, or if you have liablity coverage only. You have to let them know.

They might not be able to do anything for you right off, but your policy is a contract, and you need to hold up your end of things.


Good point...

 

[JDD]

Well----I am my insurance agent (no flaming please). Also, as a twist, she is insured with AAA and I am a AAA member. I prefer to have towing coverage not on my insurance policies for a number of reasons. I am hoping to just go thru her company since it is a minor claim and I don't want to deal with my deductible. It's been 12 days and the AAA aduster is really a d***. They won't do anything until they talk to her and he says that she won't call AAA back, and the guy never calls me back like he says he will. So, I called her agent and he said he would call her out of professional courtesy. We'll see. Basically, not impressed with AAA insurance. Then again I work in the industry and I'm not impressed with many companies. I have notified my company and let them know I am just going to go thru her company. In general terms, a company has 30 days to determine liabiliy and AAA indicated that they will be using all that time. Again, not impressed with them at all.