 drewRadiant
Premium Member
join:2002-07-10
Port Orchard, WA |
to Voxxjin
Re: Car Accident & Insurance Claim Questionssaid by Voxxjin:Interesting I always thought that in a case like this that you should contact your insurance and that it was up to the insurance company to file the claim against the other company. That's why I called my agent first, expecting him to say "yep, that's what we're here for. let us take care of it." As I mentioned to a friend... the agent was utterly useless. |
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Bob4Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey
2 edits |
Bob4
Member
2013-Jan-4 7:02 am
Do you have collision coverage? Here in NJ, you only deal with your own insurance company. They pay your claim, then they deal directly with the other insurance company to get reimbursed (subrogation). If they do, you get your deductible back.
When the other insurance company called me, I refused to talk to them, as I am not their client. There was nothing I could say that would be to my advantage. In fact, they may have called hoping I would admit to some fault in the accident.
Maybe things work differently in your state.
You should have rental car coverage, so that shouldn't be an issue.
EDIT: For rental cars, insurance companies frequently push you towards Enterprise. I've found that Avis has nicer cars for the same or less money. (i.e., the insurance company will pay for a certain $ per day, and you can get a nicer car from Avis for that money.) So don't blindly run to Enterprise. Check around exactly what model car you can get from different companies. They also have special rates for insurance replacement cars so be sure to check those rates. |
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tcope
Premium Member
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT
1 edit |
tcope
Premium Member
2013-Jan-4 8:53 am
said by Bob4:Do you have collision coverage? Here in NJ, you only deal with your own insurance company. They pay your claim, then they deal directly with the other insurance company to get reimbursed (subrogation). If they do, you get your deductible back. That would only be true in MI (as it's a true no-fault state... even for property damage). Having auto insurance does not really change the issue at hand. The issue is that someone else caused you a loss. That means the other person needs to address your loss and you have a right to pursue that other person directly. said by Bob4:When the other insurance company called me, I refused to talk to them, as I am not their client. There was nothing I could say that would be to my advantage. In fact, they may have called hoping I would admit to some fault in the accident. Sound advise as something you say could create an issue. But the other carrier is doing the right thing. They do have the responsibility to attempt to settle the loss even if they are not your carrier. If they owe the loss... they need to make some attempt to settle. Sometimes it damned if you do damned if you don't for the adjuster. I've had people yell at me for calling them and I've had people yell at me for not calling them. I understand why... it's not a big deal. It's just kind of ironic sometimes. |
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Bob4Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey |
Bob4
Member
2013-Jan-4 9:07 am
My understanding is that if I have collision coverage, my insurance company will pay my claim then attempt to collect from the other insurance company. If I don't have collision, it's up to me to collect. said by State of NJ Auto Insurance Buyer's Guide :
Collision coverage pays you for damage that you cause to your automobile. You can also make a claim under your own collision coverage for damage to your car from an auto accident you did not cause. This may take less time than making a property damage liability claim against the driver who caused the auto accident. Your insurer then seeks reimbursement (subrogation) from the insurer of the driver who caused the auto accident.
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drewRadiant
Premium Member
join:2002-07-10
Port Orchard, WA |
drew to Bob4
Premium Member
2013-Jan-4 10:17 am
to Bob4
I carry full coverage on both vehicles - roll over from when there were notes on them, but I elected to continue paying in the event we were involved in an accident and the other party did not have insurance. That's increasingly common up here, so I'd rather be protected.
I thought it strange that I was directed to work directly with the other insurance company by my agent. It seems like that's a service my company should be providing me. I go through them, they go collect blood from that turnip.
Fortunately, as I mentioned, I do not need a rental as we have a spare vehicle. |
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tcope
Premium Member
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT |
tcope to Bob4
Premium Member
2013-Jan-4 10:38 am
to Bob4
Correct... you "can" make a claim under your own collision coverage and have your carrier seek recovery. This does not mean that you are required to. As the quote goes on to mention... it may take less time doing it this way. Less time... then filing with the other person's carrier directly (being the other option). It's a liability claim to the other carrier so they need to investigate in order to determine liability. This may take an hour, it may take weeks. If you have collision, your carrier does not need to know what the liability is before they can pay so they can address your loss right away and investigate while/after they pay for the damage. |
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Bob4Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey
1 recommendation |
Bob4
Member
2013-Jan-4 12:14 pm
said by tcope:Correct... you "can" make a claim under your own collision coverage and have your carrier seek recovery. This does not mean that you are required to. But why would I want to do extra work, when I'm already paying premiums to a company that will do the work for me? But maybe you can clarify this: If I did NOT have collision and someone ran into me, I WOULD have to deal directly with the other company, right? And what would happen if THEY didn't have collision? |
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40757180 (banned)
Member
2013-Jan-4 12:17 pm
said by Bob4:said by tcope:Correct... you "can" make a claim under your own collision coverage and have your carrier seek recovery. This does not mean that you are required to. But why would I want to do extra work, when I'm already paying premiums to a company that will do the work for me? But maybe you can clarify this: If I did NOT have collision and someone ran into me, I WOULD have to deal directly with the other company, right? And what would happen if THEY didn't have collision? Liability covers the other side. I personally always deal with the other insurance as I don't want anything to be on my insurance history. |
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drslash (banned)Goya Asma
join:2002-02-18
Marion, IA |
drslash (banned)
Member
2013-Jan-4 12:26 pm
said by 40757180:said by Bob4:said by tcope:Correct... you "can" make a claim under your own collision coverage and have your carrier seek recovery. This does not mean that you are required to. But why would I want to do extra work, when I'm already paying premiums to a company that will do the work for me? But maybe you can clarify this: If I did NOT have collision and someone ran into me, I WOULD have to deal directly with the other company, right? And what would happen if THEY didn't have collision? Liability covers the other side. I personally always deal with the other insurance as I don't want anything to be on my insurance history. Your insurance company will know about the claim. Most, if not all, insurance companies share loss data. |
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tcope
Premium Member
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT
1 edit |
tcope to Bob4
Premium Member
2013-Jan-4 12:32 pm
to Bob4
said by Bob4:But why would I want to do extra work, when I'm already paying premiums to a company that will do the work for me?
But maybe you can clarify this: If I did NOT have collision and someone ran into me, I WOULD have to deal directly with the other company, right? And what would happen if THEY didn't have collision? You may not want to deal with the other carrier. That is a valid point. However, if you file with your own carrier they pay less the deductible. Some carriers (not many) will waive the deductible but this is only if the other carrier accepts 100% liability (if they accept 100% liability then it would not be difficult to "deal" with the other carrier anyway). You may not have rental coverage under your own policy. The other carrier would automatically need to pay Loss of Use (rental). Some people may not want to even report a non-fault accident to their carrier (I don't recommend not reporting it) as sometime reporting several of these within a short amount of time can increase rates. If you did not have collision and needed to file a claim with the other party their liability coverage would address your loss... not their collision coverage. Almost every state requires policies to have liability coverage. But I'd also still recommend that people really consider carrying their own collision coverage even if they think it's more likely someone else will cause the accident. Just to many people driving around without insurance. Edit: Keep in mind, most of the time the other carrier is no more difficult to deal with then your own company. If liability is clear the claim is really handled the same way if the person is an insured or not. An injury claim is different as the amount payable is much more subjective. |
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drslash (banned)Goya Asma
join:2002-02-18
Marion, IA |
drslash (banned)
Member
2013-Jan-4 12:36 pm
said by tcope:Some people may not want to even report a non-fault accident to their carrier (I don't recommend not reporting it) as sometime reporting several of these within a short amount of time can increase rates.
Again, loss data exchange by insurance companies means that all participating insurance companies know about all of your claims for the past 7 years and maybe longer. |
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Bob4Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey |
to tcope
Thanks for the clarification.
My insurance company does not raise rates after a claim or a ticket. |
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tcope
Premium Member
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT |
to drslash
said by drslash:Again, loss data exchange by insurance companies means that all participating insurance companies know about all of your claims for the past 7 years and maybe longer.
To an extent, yes. Most larger companies have an automated system to report all claims. But there are _many_ companies that don't automatically report property damage claims. I know Allstate, State Farm, USAA, Progressive report all claims. Farmers and Travellers might. But there are plenty that don't. But for the most part you should count on your carrier knowing anyway, yes. (Carfax polls the same resources. This is why not all Carfax reports are correct). |
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to tcope
said by tcope:However, if you file with your own carrier they pay less the deductible. Some carriers (not many) will waive the deductible but this is only if the other carrier accepts 100% liability (if they accept 100% liability then it would not be difficult to "deal" with the other carrier anyway). So far it's 3/3 for me with Esurance, Progressive, and Vermont Mutual all waiving the deductible BEFORE the other party accepted liability. They said liability wasn't my problem it was theirs so they just got the car fix for me. They said if for some reason liability was put on me then I'd owe the deductible to them though. Never paid a dime on any of them. |
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tcope
Premium Member
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT |
tcope
Premium Member
2013-Jan-4 5:20 pm
said by Critsmcgee:So far it's 3/3 for me with Esurance, Progressive, and Vermont Mutual all waiving the deductible BEFORE the other party accepted liability. They said liability wasn't my problem it was theirs so they just got the car fix for me. They said if for some reason liability was put on me then I'd owe the deductible to them though. Never paid a dime on any of them. Sorry but this does not make sense as posted. That is, there perhps is a little more to it then this. Normally your company pays you less your deductible and once they collect from the at fault party they refund your deducible. If they cannot collect then they don't refund the deductible. What you state is that your carrier "waives" the deductible initially but if they can't collect from the other party they "charge" you your deductible. As you can see, it's really the same outcome either way. The main difference is to the insurance company... how would they ever legally collect the deductible from their insured at a later date? The policy does not allow for this as it states your carrier should have paid less the deductible. If they chose not too... the policy does not then obligate you to repay the deductible. Your carrier's only course of action would be to file a civil suit against you. But then your argument is they your company knowingly and voluntarily paid your deductible so they have no right of action against you for what they voluntarily did (and you'd be correct). Some companies have "accident forgiveness" or "deductible waivers" for 1st accidents. Perhaps your deductible was waived for this reason. But in that case, your carrier would not have treid to collect it from you later. I'm guessing but I think that might be the only difference from your post... those carrier would not have "billed" you later for your deductible. It was simply waived for what ever reason. |
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said by tcope:said by Critsmcgee:So far it's 3/3 for me with Esurance, Progressive, and Vermont Mutual all waiving the deductible BEFORE the other party accepted liability. They said liability wasn't my problem it was theirs so they just got the car fix for me. They said if for some reason liability was put on me then I'd owe the deductible to them though. Never paid a dime on any of them. Sorry but this does not make sense as posted. That is, there perhps is a little more to it then this. Normally your company pays you less your deductible and once they collect from the at fault party they refund your deducible. If they cannot collect then they don't refund the deductible. What you state is that your carrier "waives" the deductible initially but if they can't collect from the other party they "charge" you your deductible. As you can see, it's really the same outcome either way. The main difference is to the insurance company... how would they ever legally collect the deductible from their insured at a later date? The policy does not allow for this as it states your carrier should have paid less the deductible. If they chose not too... the policy does not then obligate you to repay the deductible. Your carrier's only course of action would be to file a civil suit against you. But then your argument is they your company knowingly and voluntarily paid your deductible so they have no right of action against you for what they voluntarily did (and you'd be correct). Some companies have "accident forgiveness" or "deductible waivers" for 1st accidents. Perhaps your deductible was waived for this reason. But in that case, your carrier would not have treid to collect it from you later. I'm guessing but I think that might be the only difference from your post... those carrier would not have "billed" you later for your deductible. It was simply waived for what ever reason. The fact remains it's happen 3 times in 2 different states with 3 different companies. No 'accident forgiveness' of any kind either. I refuse to pay extra for that 'gimmick'. The coverage was full at $500k/$250k all 3 times. |
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