I really miss my Accord.

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I am sad... perhaps some of you wouldn't be bothered with a rental too much, but I'm really missing my Accord right now.

On Wednesday, October 1st, I was rear ended by a guy in a work truck. I was at one of the three round-a-bouts in Hamburg, NY waiting to enter the traffic circle. The next thing I know was I felt a good hit from behind. I got angry pretty quick and signaled to the guy behind me to pull over ahead. I decided that it'd be best to keep my cool, so I did.

I immediately called the police and waited for them to come take a look. The guy was driving a 2007 F150 which was his work truck. He showed me why he rear-ended me, which in all reality doesn't make it any better. In his truck, being a 2007, the rubber brake pedal cover was entirely smooth -- all worn off. He was wearing flip-flops or sandals and had recently walked in some water at a 7-Eleven or some delicatessen type store. He had his foot on the brake or went to hit the brake... foot slipped off and hit the gas.

The police came and did the police report thing. The cop seemed to be a little perturbed that I bothered them to come for what they thought was minor damage. Also, I had my car undercoated/rust-proofed the Saturday before, so the car was pretty dirty which can help to conceal damage (I'll put a picture up at the end). When the cop was finished, I asked for the police report number. He did give me the number, but proceeded to say that usually insurance companies don't need police reports when the damage is less than $500. I said, "Oh I didn't know you guys were insurance adjusters too, how convenient" and got the look followed by a "have a nice day, sir" -- Village cops always act as if you're a bother to them.

I took down all of his information, as he did with mine. He repeatedly wanted to pay me out of pocket, but I respectfully declined. I'm not about to be the guy who takes $1k then find out it's $2k and find myself footing the rest of the bill. I submitted the claim to my insurance company and his company's insurance. My insurance company basically told me, "well you're not at fault so hope it goes well and if you need us let us know."

I picked the shop I want to have the car repaired at. A very good trust worthy guy whose been doing this for years and who I know very well. No qualms or problems with him whatsoever. I dropped off the car there and have been driving a 2014 Impala, 3.6/6-speed with 10k miles. The insurance adjuster went there and apparently tried making the damage look better than it was. The insurance company does not want to pay. They offer some $500 when the damage is in the ballpark of >$1500.

At this point, the car is at the repair shop with the bumper off (so they could assess the damage of to the bumper underneath) and both parties are at a standstill. Insurance doesn't want to pay and my body guy can't really start unless he's paid... which I completely understand. I don't know if I should start calling the insurance company complaining or if I should let my body guy hash this out.

I'm very frustrated. This Impala is OK, but in all honestly, it's not me, it's not my kind of car. It's too big, drinks too much gas, don't care for the automatic. I miss my clutch, my peppy 4-cyl, my decent gas mileage, my VTEC. This just sucks.

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It may be hard to see, but the flat spot of my bumper by the trunk lid, that is not a reflection. It is now "peaking up to a point" after the hit. Also, the left and right sides where the cover meets the body is not lining up and off. There's a large gap on the left and hardly a gap on the right where the trunk lid meets the cover. Also, if you open the lid, you can see a large gap between the body and cover on the left and almost none on the right.
 
I hear ya. I know that if I go for a while without my car I start to miss it. I chose it for a reason.
 
I missed my car when it was in for accident repair, too. I had a nice enough rental (Chrysler 300), but it wasn't the car that I've grown quite fond of.

Why won't his insurance pay? I'd be on the phone wearing that guy out. And don't let them skate on your rental, too. It should be on their dime, not yours.
 
I feel your pain. I had a 2010 Tundra. In mint shape for me. My daughter got hit when a fellow ran a red light. No injuries. truck written off and insurance gave me $18,000 and I replaced with a yr newer Tundra and 60k less miles.

I faired well but very much inconvenienced. And the added stress doesn't help.

You handled the situation well. Just have to be patient. You have done nothing wrong and the crash is not your fault.
 
I'm curious, in a case like this, isn't it the job of your insurance company/agent to fight for you to get as much as you deserve? Is that not how it works?
 
I don't know about New York, but here in Ohio we have a Dept of Insurance. Threatening to file a complaint with them does wonders.

Is the ins. Co. Snake Charm?

Johm
 
Sorry to hear of your troubles. We have "no-fault" insurance where in your case your insurance pays for your damages and his company pays for his damages. Fault is assigned to the guy that hit you. It is all supposed to work out in the wash to use a tired saying.
I have a few instances to try out the system the past few years and it has worked pretty well.
Most cases were the fault of the other party.
Some not .... all in all, no complaints.
 
Complain to your state insurance commissioner. Get the estimate, inform the insurer that if it doesn't authorize the repair they will be hearing from your attorney. For the cost involved, I doubt if the insurer will want to get involved with a small claims court. If the insurer loses, it will have to foot the repair costs plus your and their legal costs and the rental cost. They are legally required by your state insurance department to repair your vehicle. Regards
 
Insurance companies suck. Pay your premiums, have an accident that's not your fault, you're on your own. Have an accident that is your fault, they jack up your rates. A real racket, they are right there with pond scum.

At this point, I'm thinking you should have said your neck was sore and you were heading to the doctor. As much as I hate a litigious society, it's junk like this that makes me think putting it in the hands of a lawyer is a good option at times.

They are just jerking you around now, trying to low ball you and wear you down by being inconvenienced. Perhaps you should get another independent adjuster to estimate it. Or, maybe even your insurance company, since they did say call if they could help. Hang in and don't take the low ball offer.
 
It spells out in your policy what step you need to take next, because you disagree with the settlement offer. If I recall correctly, since an offer to settle has been made it limits rental car coverage, so you have that to be concerned about also. You should snail mail correspondence; and follow up verbal with written correspondence.
 
The girlfriend and I were rear ended in my parents wrangler while we were taking my late 13 year old Newfoundland to the vet for surgery. The kid just hit the tire and bumped us forward. I suspect texting because he wouldn't put the thing away. No damage, but he tried paying me off with $60. I called the police and he was even annoyed I called because there was no visible damage.

Always call the police. Plus I was shook up. I could have missed something and found it later.. then I would have been poo out of luck because the police weren't called.
 
I assume you have full coverage. Your insurance should have paid for the repair, and then they bill the other insurance company. That's how it works here at least.
 
His insurance company for his work is Zurich North America.

I do have full coverage with $250 deductibles on comp. and coll. with full glass and rental coverage, but was "persuaded" if you will, by my insurance company to just put the claim through his and not bother with mine as it wasn't my fault. Perhaps this is where having Geico isn't too helpful?
 
Originally Posted By: redhat
His insurance company for his work is Zurich North America.

I do have full coverage with $250 deductibles on comp. and coll. with full glass and rental coverage, but was "persuaded" if you will, by my insurance company to just put the claim through his and not bother with mine as it wasn't my fault. Perhaps this is where having Geico isn't too helpful?


Yes you can have them subrogate the claim. You pay $250 deductible and your insurance ends up recovering it latter. If you get in a total situation its a prudent move to get a quote from each insurer on what your vehicle is worth and go for the greater amount.
 
Unless things work very differently in the US, your insurance company should be doing ALL the legwork...that's what you pay them for.
 
This is a situation where you probably want to subrogate. Call up GEICO, tell them Zurich is not cooperating or low-balling you and you choose to subrogate. They should send out their adjuster and you can then determine if the Zurich offer is even close. It is possible the body shop is high, but I doubt it. Let your insurance attorney negotiate with Zurich's attorneys. Pay your deductible and you should get it back when the two companies settle.

Outlier may be the rental car if you don't have a rental car coverage with GEICO. You may have to file a separate claim with Zurich for that.

When a driver and an employer is involved, it seems final settlements drag out for a long time. It is in your interest to get your insurer to expeditiously repair the car and get it back on the road. Let the lawyers fight it out after you get your car back.

I tend to subrogate every time there is an accident where I am not at fault, because I am dealing with my insurance company, and after 40 yrs or so, I know and understand their practices. Not so with the other company that is involved.

Evaluate GEICO's performance based on how they handle this problem, and then decide if you want to change insurance companies.
 
I feel your pain (re: missing your car).

It sounds like subrogation will be your friend here; I had a similar incident where I was sideswiped, completely not at fault and the other driver's SR-22 insurance company (bare-bones coverage in IL, usually advertisers on shows like Maury and Springer in the Chicago area) wouldn't even talk to me. Talked to my agent, she said that the other company was taking way too long so we filed a claim on my policy and, in her words, "when State Farm gets done with the other driver, she's going to wish she had a 'real' insurance company backing her." Car was fixed and about a year after the accident I received a check from State Farm for my deductible, recovered from the other driver.

One caveat, though; this *will* count as a claim against your policy, even if your're not at fault. I hadn't had an accident in 10 years prior to this, so I got a "freebie" with this claim and was able to keep my accident free discount. Unforunately, I had to file another claim for a different accident about 18 months later, and since this was now #2 within 3 years, I lost my accident-free discount for 3 years.
 
Originally Posted By: opus1
...One caveat, though; this *will* count as a claim against your policy, even if your're not at fault.

And that is a huge caveat imo. Your premiums should cover any subrogation if that's the route an insured 'is forced' to go. Then if need be, your insurance company should go to court to recover costs from the at fault driver's insurance company. And it shouldn't count against your own policy, ie., no effect on your premium. I been with SF for a long time and been through a similar experience, so it's no better than the OP's insurer.

So it's a lose lose for the OP or a 'not at fault' driver. Just a matter of which loss is worse. As I said, a real racket.
 
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