Please Help the Z is hurt!
 

About a month ago I was at a 4-way stop and proceeded thorough the intersection when I was hit!:eekdance: The culprit was a Dodge intrepid piloted by a Teenager. When the cops arrived the teen was issued a ticket for failing to yield as he was on my left. The damage was minimal but totals $1700.

Heres where I need yalls help as I have never been in an accident before. I received a phone call from my insurance company(Progressive) stating his insurance(Farmers) was not going to cover the damage. How is this even possible considering he hit me and was issued a ticket?!:mad:

I plan on fighting them but any help or opinions on this is very welcomed.

Pretty standard procedure from an insurance company. Always deny a claim straight off and if they're lucky you just go 'Oh, ok.' Go back to your insurance company and tell them that either they can get his insurance to pay, or they can pay-but one of them is paying. This isn't your responsibility - it's the responsibility of your insurer. That's what you pay them for. Do you have an agent or did you do it on line? If you have an agent, this is a pretty easy deal - they'll fight for you (at least they should). If you just bought it on-line, it's going to be a little tougher. Customer Service doesn't care. They're clockin' in and clockin' out.

It's pretty troublesome that Progressive doesn't seem to want to fight for you. I know if my agent got a call from another company like that, I wouldn't even know about it, he'd just take care of it. That's what they do.

Rule #1 in insurance is deny the claim and make the insured fight for it (or give up). The longer they can hold onto the money, the better it is for them.

Another progressive customer getting shafted. Take note people.

As far as your problem, lawyer up man.

^^ I don't know if there is any reason to "laywer up" -- unless you only have liability insurance. Chances are you have collision coverage. If that's that case file a claim against your insurance company, they'll send an adjuster and -- eventually -- issue a check or pay the shop. They will then try to collect the costs from the other guy's insurance. The only time you should have to deal with the other guy's insurance at all is if you only have liability.

noted. Those jokers will never get my money.

Wow, that sucks I never had my insurance call me with their problems.

I can't believe that they are so lazy or unwilling so spend any money to deal with a clear cut accident that they are willing to make their customer deal with the other insurer.

They should put more money into good service to keep customers rather then commercials to get new customers.

That is not good. I have 5 cars with Progressive.

tell your agent to do his/her work. you have a police report, tell your agent you want to take the other party to court and settle it there.

Wow, yea I would think thats Progressive problem to get the money no? If you have full coverage your insurance should pay up then go after the D-Bag who hit your car in the first place. Make sure they dont try to fix the car with some crappy aftermarket parts.

If the other driver is indeed at fault, your agent should fight for you to make sure the claim is paid through the other drivers policy. If not, a claim can be put in with your company and Progressive should go after their company in order to indemnify themselves for the payout (including your deductible depending on the % of fault). The term for this is Subrogation. If you want you can point it out to your agent using the Progressive website lol

Understanding Insurance - What Is Subrogation?

That sucks dude. I was in a similar situation a few years ago. Call your insurance company and tell them it was not your fault and you want to fight Farmers. In the end you should win since you have a police report. In the end it should end up something like 51% and 49% at fault in your favor. Good luck.

:icon18: zing! way da go, nick! :tup:

Huh so my insurance agent should be doing the talking. I do have full coverage and I would claim it on my own insurance but my deductible is $500 and wouldn't claiming the accident cause my insurance to go up. I'm 21 and pay $300 already.

Well that depends on the company... some companies will raise rates or drop you even if the other company pays the claim. Really crappy stuff.

Your best bet has been mentioned... pay the deductible and file through your company... you will be surprised to see how fast Progressive will go after Farmers once you do... they don't want to pay claims if they don't have to. I did this recently just to get my car fixed quicker when I was rear-ended... the only downside is that it takes a few months to get your deductible back but it is better than dealing with an adjuster.

If you go through your company and you aren't at fault then your policy won't go up. That's the point of subrogation. Your company will sue the other company to recover the money they had to pay out to you. So as long as you aren't at fault your policy shouldn't go up.

Now, the % of fault is a different story. Were there any other witnesses? I don't see how the other company could be just denying it 100% if the other driver was issued a ticket. Call up your agent and bring up these points. It might not end up being a 100% deal... But they should be paying something.

Granted I don't know how the laws differ in your state... But these are things that you should bring up to your agent.

Very simple question to which here is your very simple answer. you have two options based on the info you provided:

a)you continue waiting for farmers to clear liability and pay your damages (property,injuries,rental,etc)
OR
b)you utilize your coverages(collision,rental reimbursement,etc) to start repairs on your vehicle and your carrier will send farmers the bill(subrogation)
The only drawback here is your deductible will apply until farmers pays the bill and you are reimbursed.
Hope you werent injured and good luck with your car.

This is simple, Insurance companies will often try this and here is how they are dealt with.

1. File small claims court case, where the other driver lives, naming him and his insurance company as defendents in the case.
2. Get the highest estimate you can, you only need 1 for court evidence.
3. Put together evidence package , estimates, police reports, letters from all parties involved, medical report etc..
4. File small court claim yourself, no lawyer needed, just go to a court clerks office where the other driver lives and the court clerk will tell you exactly what to do usually $15-$30 cost.
5. If you get the car repaired before court date you will need to submit repair shops bill, along with any other damages, rental car, time off work etc.

When you win the case you submit a copy of the judgement to drivers insurance company and they are forced to pay up if he has insurance thru them and any remainder will be paid by the driver in the form of a judgement.
In your case his company will be forced to pay up the full amount.

Two - other avenues are to submit the claim against your own company, this will go against you though for your record.

Other is to file a complaint against the drivers insurance company with your states insurance commision and also with your states attorney generals office.

from my experience you should never even have to talk to or inform you agent you were even in a wreck.. the other drivers carrier should be saying things to you like go pick out a shop and get your car fixed and get a rental while your at it. the guys insurance company is full of it...............

Do this ^^^
Ask Farmers why? If Farmers is not going to cover because when the accident happened their coverage lapse (canceled), your Uninsured Motorist coverage will kick in to pay your $500 deductible. Assuming you have that coverage. Good luck and keep us posted :ugh2:

Thanks everyone for your opinions and assistance. I have full coverage for those wondering. Also there was not any bodily injury to me or the other driver and it was definitely his fault (As stated in the Police report). I would pay to get my Z fixed and wait until I get paid back but the deductible is simply to much right now, so I believe I will tell his insurance to pay it. If they continue giving me the run around I will take them to small claims. After the dust settles and the Z is rebuilt bye bye ditsy blonde Progressive. The blackguy from All-State looks trust worthy...

:roflpuke2: you know when youre in good hands + rep

Most insurance companies will try and screw over both their own customers and anyone that files a claim against them.

With most insurance claims, the insurance adjusters # 1 job is to deny a claim, not to pay out on one.

One issue could be is that the other driver is trying to pin the blame on you with his company.

Note his company is obligated to provide for you in writing why they are denying your claim.

You should also call up his insurance company tell them you intend to file a claim with your state's insurance commission and your state attorney generals office, as to there bussiness practices in your state, make sure you speak to claims manager and not a simple customer service rep.

Make sure you also use the small claims court action, its simple and the fastest way to resolve the whole situation.

I was forced to use small claims court in order to collect on a damage claim, from a contractors trailer caused damage to my vehicle and it happended in right after 911 and it turned out the contractors bussiness was insured by one of the major insurance companies that insured the World Trade Center. Insurance company ran out of money fast.

Accident happended around 10/1/2001, filed case in court 10/15/2001, court case date around 11/1/2011, case, won case, money paid by 12/01/2001

In some policies you specifically agree to not sue other insurance companies (helps keep costs down across the board)... you may want to look into that before you even consider small claims. It might be easier to sue the individual themselves..

Nothing is stopping from sueing the other drivers insurance company, as you signed nothing with them. Anyway getting a judgement in court against the insured, legally requires the company to pay up, once a legal decision is handed down.

Did you find out WHY Farmers won't cover the damage? I would get specifics from them before anything else. Maybe they are getting one side of the story or don't have all the facts.

Time to lawyer up.

A little update. I receive another voicemail from my insurance stating that I need to contact them so I can cover my damages as the other driver insurance (Farmers) would not.
I immediately called the other drivers insurance company (Farmers). They stated they are still undecided as they have yet to speak with their driver. I asked the Farmers rep how long until their driver concedes liability. She stated 30 days. I continued to pursue answers stating it had been over 40. The agent then gave me her direct line and stated she would try and contact their driver once more then return my phone call. SHE NEVER CALLED ME.......

Can anyone explain to me why my insurance company appears to have no back bone and is willing to concede defeat?

If I were you, pay your deductible and let your insurance co. do the leg work. That's what you pay them for.
If you are not at fault, you will get your deductible back thru subrogation as mentioned earlier.

What state do you live in? If it is a no fault state then each insured claims on their own policy. No Fault Insurance Explained: Understanding No Fault Auto Insurance Laws

I'm with this. The only thing you should be out of pocket is your deductible and that is until your insurance company fights to get that from the other insurance company. They have to make a reasonable attempt to get that money back on your behalf. If they can't get it done, then you can give it a try. Either way Progressive should be taking care of you and getting your car fixed. You may need to talk to your Agent's supervisor to get things moving. Be firm and stand your ground. They may be taking advantage of you because of your age. I'm really interested in this as I also have Progressive, thankfully haven't used them for any claims though.