Insurance Question

[baggio248]

Ok, need some help here.

My girlfriend was rear ended while stopping at a light in downtown LA. The guy that hit her didn't get out of the car to see if she was ok. She got out to see the damage and check on him. They swapped info, and he handed her an expired license.

Later that night we are getting ready to run an errand, and the doorbell rings. it is the guy who hit her, he is old and has a cane, and 3 ladies. They offer to pay us cash for the damage to not report it to insurance. Well we did that as soon as she got home. We told them it was in the system and it was too late. As we left for our errand, they followed us down the stairs to my car, stopped us and asked to see the car. We told them that we are not disccusing it, based upon what the insurance company said.

Yesterday the insurance guy came out and estimated the damage around $530.

Today we got a phone call saying they could pay us for the $30 bucks (deductable 500), and that the other party now has a witness. We also got a letter from his insurance saying we are entitled to a rental car, but that they will not discuss this with us.

This is BS, how does that make any sense. He never even got out of the car. And he drove away behind my girlfriend, so he never stopped to look for a witness. This is so shady. Our hopes are they are saying they can only pay us this much based on the info they have and that they now have a "witness", which is a bunch of crap. She is supposed to talk to them tomorrow about a "witness".

Any thoughts, ideas??? Any help is appreciated.
TIA!

[thresher]

Bag -
Since you live in "the land of confusion" it's a little tough to help you with insurance laws for your state (or sovereign nation?). However, in Texas, FL, and CA: ANY and by any I mean ANY rear end collision is the fault of the driver in the rear. It's called failure to maintain safe distance. And if he tries some bs story about her being in reverse, every insurance auditor can tell the difference between trajectories. In other words, his car's damage would be facing a different direction as would her's. This is a game they play (less than scrupulous insurance companies) and it's up to her company to fight it. I would suggest for you girlfriend to, at this point, file hit and run charges as well. That way this "witness" has to be a. identified and b. threatened with purgury(sp).
We've played this game in Texas a few times sadly. It's never any fun to have someone else not play fair.
Thresh
ps- I re-read your post and noticed that land of confusion is long hand for Los Angeles. Ooops. :)

[Bires]

The reason you have an insurance agent is to look out for you. Make it clear to your agent the details, and that you expect him/her to take care of you-that is what the company you write your giant premium checks to pays them for.

If your agent doesn't play ball, complain to the company.

[Jeffbx]

Here's by far the most important rule you must follow if you don't want this type of hassle:

CALL THE POLICE WHEN YOU GET INTO AN ACCIDENT! Especially if you're not at fault. If you're rear ended, or if the other party is obviously to blame, the cop will write them a ticket. This is also your free ticket from hassles, since it clearly shows who is to blame.

Once you have the police report showing they are to blame, hand it off to your insurance comapny & let them handle it. That's what you pay them for.

Happened to me a few years ago - some older guy turned into my car as I was passing him. I think he thought he was in the right lane when he was in the middle lane. We pulled over, I called the police, the cop went over the details & wrote the guy a ticket. I got a copy of the police report, gave it to my insurance company, and a few weeks later got a check for the damages. Overall it was rather painless.

Of course, in an instance like this it helps if the other person HAS insurance...!

[mcs328]

I would have gotten a police report. Other than that let your or his insurance company that his license has expired and shouldn't have been driving in the first place. I'm sure they can look up when it expired and when he happened to renew it.

yes it is helpful when they do have an insurance. Almost a year later and I'm still trying to recover damages from someone who was driving without insurance. I did have a letter from her insurance co that she let it lapse. Easy win for me if she doesn't want to pay.

[baggio248]

Thanks everyone. We talked to his insurance company and they made it sound like they think its BS too, and they don't want to waste their time on this. His "witness" was "in" the car with him, as was her daughter. Funny how there was no one in the car. They are just going through the motions. The phone number for his witness doesn't even work, they have to contact her by mail. So they are fishy also. So it looks like things are looking better.

[bbrian]

If you go through your insurance company you will have to pay your deductible. It isn't worth them persuing the $$ from the other company since it isn't much money. You are far better off just dealing with his insurance company directly... they should get you a rental. If it is Farmers or State Farm, you should be able to go to a direct repair shop.. basically they aren't questioned about how/what to fix and the repair will have a lifetime warranty. However, make sure the shop is reputable and won't take shortcuts.