Was Rear Ended, Considering an Attorney

[FullAuto]

From the guy that works/worked for an insurance company?
Personally, I don't play the insurance game. If they want to play games, they can do it in the legal environment that evens the field.
In one case, I had to go through a jury trial to recover my damages.

Yes, from the guy who sees how these things end up for a living. They took liability and you want him to file in small claims court for a difference of a property damage estimate. That's an entire new level of stupidity. It will only cost him money and he won't gain one penny he could get by other means. But by all means, go ahead and let us know how it turns out.

 

[FullAuto]

Called me back, still not budging. We are having a conference call tomorrow with the guy who gave me my estimate. Who oddly enough is a friend of the SF estimator and the SF estimator told me he has known him for years and he knows his stuff. Just not in this case, huh?

I talked to a friend who's dad had the same thing happen with state farm after a rear end collison. He got his lawyer involved and they were a little more willing to work with him after that.
Pricks.

That should be a huge sign to you right there. Your shop will repair your vehicle for probably very close if not exactly what the estimator wrote originally. If your hitch was left off the original, he'll get it covered too. It's the cash settle claims that get screwed up because every person in a wreck is always a repair expert and every car wrecked is always a restored show car.

I had a claim today where a truck is at the dealer with bad axle bearings and a bad rear diff. Why am I there? After the customer got the quote, he remembered his truck was wrecked in 2010. So this damage is obviously part of it. Next year, this guy will be on a gun forum telling stories about how he was screwed by his insurance company. LOL

 

[RidgeHunter]

We'll see. I guess every claim is settled for the initial offer now. LOL. My friend's dad had to whine to get his hitch replaced. No chance it will work for me?

I got money to lose. No time to lose, but I lack good judgement regarding time management so let's do it.

 

[SlugSlinger]

Yes, from the guy who sees how these things end up for a living. They took liability and you want him to file in small claims court for a difference of a property damage estimate. That's an entire new level of stupidity. It will only cost him money and he won't gain one penny he could get by other means. But by all means, go ahead and let us know how it turns out.

If he didn't want to have his truck repaired how would you suggest him recover his damages? Please explain the "other" means.

I can tell you how it turned out for me. I received a judgment for 10 times the policy limit that the insurance company decided it would be a good idea to pay.

 

[FullAuto]

If he didn't want to have his truck repaired how would you suggest him recover his damages? Please explain the "other" means.

I can tell you how it turned out for me. I received a judgment for 10 times the policy limit that the insurance company decided it would be a good idea to pay.

If they missed damage, you simply make a phone call and request a reinspection because damage was missed. He could also get a quote for a new hitch and send it in as a supplement. The contact information for a supplement will have been printed at the top of the estimate.

If it's a difference in opinion on damage that was acknowledged, he can send in a supplement request himself for either additional labor or a part replaced that repair was figured. There is a process. It should have been explained in person at the drive in. It should have been explained again over the phone. And then there will probably be a letter included when they mail him the check he left on the desk.

I offered to look at both estimates to compare. Typically on a shop estimate, there are obvious unnecessary or even unrelated procedures that will run up the totals. There may be labor rate differences too. If the shop bid a new OEM hitch, that would be one obvious problem and probably a pretty good difference in cost.

So since state minimum is $25k for both property and injury, you're saying an insurer wrote you a check for $250k when their policy holder had $25k in coverage? Or was this when the minimum used to be $10k and they wrote you a $100k check when their customer had $10k in coverage? I wish I had that kind of luck. I have an injury claim with a $500-600k value but only received policy limits on 3 policies.

 

[SlugSlinger]

With my last accident, I sought out 2 estimates and took both to the drive thru Progressive shop. I provided both to Progressive who ended up with a higher estimate than both of mine. Progressive also was proactive about a rental car and the other annoyances related to dealing with a car wreck. That is the way to handle a claim, not coming in and low balling to see if the person will accept the check.
And yes, I had to go back and look at the records, the check was 9.8 times the current state minimum policy amount and there was no luck involved. The humorous part was the insurance company offered the policy limit the morning of the trial. What a joke!
The "no-name" insurance company screwed the policy holder and me around, but he was on the hook for the settlement. That is why I have said on here do not cheap out on your liability insurance. The policy holder was ready to sue his insurance company for failing their fiduciary responsibility and he would have won. The insurance company took the cheaper way out and paid me the settlement.

 

[Mos Eisley]

Ridge, only dude I've ever known to actually live a thread as it's happening.

 

[74834]

My one and only rear end collision was almost a tragedy. I had just completed a total rebuild of a disk with all new bearings, blades, tires,and a spiffy paint job.
Couldn't exceed 17 mph as it would start fishtailing behind the taco. I saw the vehicle coming up behind me, and told my buddy, he isn't going to stop. He hit us at 70mph, popped the disk up in the air which then came down on his vehicle with one blade completely through the windshield next to his head. 6" difference and he wouldn't have walked away.
It shot my vehicle into the ditch. Caused a whiplash for both of us, as well as spine damage to my lower back that resulted in lost time at work, and months of chiropractic and medical care. Bent the frame on the Taco.
OHP found a GPS, bag of cheeto's and a map on the drivers side floorboard of the vehicle that hit us. The driver wasn't injured.
The disk was an older model, and their adjuster wanted to give a couple hundred for it. That's when the Lawyer came into play as well as the injuries. The lowball offer backfired for them.
It turned out well for me in the end.

What percentage of fault was assigned to the guy in the car?

 

[dennishoddy]

What percentage of fault was assigned to the guy in the car?

100% his fault. See that triangle on the back of the disk?
That's a slow moving equipment sign. My 4 way flashers on the pickup were in operation as well. When the OHP pulled up the guy started waving his hands around saying it was my fault because I was going too slow. The trooper pointed at that sign and told him as long as that was on the disk it could have been at a full stop on the highway and the driver would have still been at fault.
He was from The east coast. Car was a rental.

 

[druryj]

Muh neck hurts.