Apparently he thought insurance was only to cover him.
After his insurance company left him threatening messages he finally got ahold of them and said he hadn’t planned on reporting the accident that he was just going to junk his van and call it good.
Gee, a winner like that, and he got busted for drunk driving? My world is turned upside-down.
I don’t understand why YOUR insurance company doesn’t go after HIS insurance company, rather than saying, “Oh, Kricket, pay us and we’ll get around to recouping the money later.” Isn’t that part of why you pay premiums? Not only for damages, but to have someone on your side in situations like these?
You may have to look for an attorney, especially if this guy is trying to sweep the whole thing under the rug. Maybe you need to provide the police report to HIS insurance company?
kopek I would have loved to seen that concert! I’ve not had a chance to see GWAR and they were just in DesMoines about six months ago. I had a friend go a few years back and he came home covered in I’m not even sure what.
I really don’t understand how this kid thought that his insurance only covered him. Seriously he had to know better and is just trying to play stupid right?
I have such a bad cold right now from being cold and wet the night of the accident.
Ivylass I didn’t understand that either.
But our insurance guy suggested we get a lawyer to help us with the medical part because the other insurance is already telling us what they will and won’t cover.
ivylass, my experience is pretty much the same as Kricket’s. I had to take care of things through my insurance policy first before the other driver’s insurance could take over. (I had an accident about 12 years ago when I was hit by a semi.) It helped that the other insurance company knew it was on the hook and was basically waiting with its checkbook in its hand, but I still had to file a claim with my own company and cover the deductible and so forth.
I’m with ivylass and your agent. Definitely seek the assistance of a lawyer. Something isn’t really right here.
Like what, a boob job? :dubious:
“Oh, sorry. The policy our 100% liable insured has with us doesn’t cover innocent victims with compound femur fractures. You’re SOL…”
His company is jerking you around. End of story.
Well, they were a bit perkier before the accident…
Photos?
Well, that right there is the basis for a monumental lawsuit.
Here’s hoping your breastigal appendages quickly regain their former loftiness.
Read your policy. Your insurance company will pay to fix your car, subject to the deductible. Kricket bought a policy with a $500 deductible. The insurance company will be happy to honor it part of the bargain and fix her car subject to the deductible that Kricket agreed to when she bought the policy.
“But they can get it back from the other company” Yeah maybe. Maybe the guy hadn’t paid his premium, maybe he was driving an uninsured vehicle (he owned 2 and only insured the other one) any number of reasons why they might not get the money back from the other company.
So the way it works is, if you want your collision coverage to pay so you don’t have to wait, you will have to front the $500. If and when the insurance company gets the $$ back from the other company you get your $500 back.
If you don’t mind waiting, you won’t have to front the $500.
On the other hand, if your policy has med pay coverage, it should kick in with zero deductible for your and your passenger’s hospital bills. (Insurance laws vary by state, so check with your agent/read your policy)
-Rick
I think that would make a great sig line and I haven’t had one of those for years!!
This insurance stuff is such a headache. I hate to do it but I think I’m going to have to get a lawyer.
They only want to pay $5,000 for my van and they don’t want to pay my chiropractor.
But you know what?! I didn’t want to get hit by their drunken client either! I didn’t want to be in pain and have to go to the ER shivering cold in the rain and possible have a torn tendon in my finger! I didn’t want to miss this much work and have to go through the hassle of finding a new vehicle or the nightmares that come with the sound of shattering glass or flinching everytime I pass a car coming down a side street!
Sorry for the bit of a rant. I’m just so stinkin’ frustrated right now.
Did you get checked out for a concussion? A bump on the head, plus being a little forgetful may not be anything, but it’s worth double checking. You don’t wanna mess around with something like that.
Glad this wasn’t worse and that both of you are OK. Sorry to hear about all the hassle involved, though.
They didn’t check my head out at all. I didn’t know that I had hit my head until the next day when my passenger told me.
Texts-
Me: “I think I bumped my head. It’s tender but no bumps or bruises.”
Him: “yeah you hit it on the steering wheel”
Me 3hours later: “I think I bumped my head. It’s tender but no bumps or bruises.”
Him: “Um? I told you that a few hours ago?”
After we actually spoke with each other and he told me what he remembered seeing I remembered hitting my head on the steering wheel when we hit the curb. We had spun a few times and finally hit the curb and that bounced us backwards across the street where we hit the other curb and finally stopped. I hit my head when we hit the first curb.
And I’ve had a few more bruises show up. Oddly I do have a bruise on the underside of my left breast I didn’t notice until after the joking upthread.
Is it too late to get my head checked? I’m going to see my MD tomorrow because the ring finger on my left hand actually hurts worse today than ever but it’s not broken and my hip and right shoulder have started to really bother me.
Today the other insurance guy called me and said “yeah, you’ll have that but it’s only been four days since the accident” I’m not sure what calender he’s been looking at or what he was paying attention to when he was talking to me.
IANAD, but I think they can check you out for a concussion several days after it happens. I had one as a kid, and at first the doctor said it was just a bad bump. When my mom took me back a week later because I was yarking, feverish and incoherent, he changed his diagnosis.
Mention it to your doc, along with the memory lapses. It may be nothing, but it doesn’t hurt to have it checked out.
That kind of forgetfulness sounds very much like concussion to me (I speak as the older sister of a rather adventurous brother who had concussion 5 times between the ages of 2 and 15). Unfortunately, I’m not sure there are any tests for concussion, the diagnosis seems to be based on symptoms and excluding other, more serious injuries.
I can’t decide whether to weigh in with insurance insight or with some clown-lovin’ lyrics for your situation.
Gotta go ponder that one…
Aw Inigo take a stab at both!
The coolest part about this whole thing right now is that I’ve gotten my rental car finally and it’s an Eclipse. Although it really sucks on my body to get in and out of because it sits so stinkin’ low it is a mighty sweet ride and I damn it I look good in in it!
Liability = “You made a bad judgment call and caused an accident.” We all do stuff like this. My weakness is I tend to roll into & through crosswalks when approaching stop signs and I’m only focused on, “where’s my opening—gotta negotiate this intersection.” I’ll end up running someone over someday. If the case goes to trial the jury will say, “Yeah, it was your fault and you should pay damages.” DUI, reckless driving, road rage, etc. all “aggravate” liability. Those will garner the victim “punitive” damages beyond what they’d normally be entitled to. Basically, there’s a difference between being careless (like me) and knowingly endangering others by driving drunk, and the legal system recognizes that.
Give it a try. Itemize all property in your car that was lost or damaged and present it to his insurance company. The worst they’ll do is deny it. Remember, you have the duty to prove your claim.
Confusion, headache, irritability–symptoms of post concussive syndrome. See a doctor if it doesn’t clear up after a couple more days. Keep in mind, your head felt tender–you may have knocked it on something. Even if you didn’t, a good car crash can cause PCS. You sure it wasn’t caused by the Faygo bottle to the head? Anyway, this is a potentially serious injury. Tell your doctor about it ASAP so you can document it. Replace your camera and photograph your bruises. Keep a daily diary of what hurts and how bad (scale of 1-10 is common). Keep track of miles you have to drive to medical appointments. Keep track of all the time you have to spend away from work because of this. Keep track of all out of pocket expenses.
The running passenger is a small fish and is largely irrelevant to your purposes. As a witness he’s not really any good for anybody because of his actions–his credibility is compromised. Your passenger, however, stuck around.
Not necessarily a good thing. If the insurance company finds a way to get off the case, then it’s down to you getting money directly from the other driver.
You’ve got this one solved already, but the deal about his insurer doing nothing without first talking to him: that’s common and fair. An insurance company is just a checkbook. They only pay what their customer would be legally responsible for. To determine that, they have a duty to investigate all claims presented to them and pay them based on their merits. If they only hear your side of the story, who’s to say you’re not making all or some of it up? It happens. Getting police reports to insurance companies is not high on the cops’ priority list. If you don’t get a copy and forward that on to the insurance folks, they’ll end up having to wait a few weeks for it. Besides, people get arrested from accident scenes all the time for stuff that isn’t related to the accident. Different companies handle these things differently depending on how much they rely on public opinion for their business. If this dude’s driving on an SR-22, he’s probably not insured by one who cares about that.
**Inigo’s opinion: **
****Lawyers **are not necessary for probably 75% of the cases they end up representing. They often encourage their clients to over-treat for their injuries, which can end up harming their clients if the insurance company presents a strong argument that all treatment was not reasonable & necessary; and they take a significant chunk of the settlement which frequently nets the customer less money than they would have gotten otherwise. I do NOT pay more on a claim simply because someone gets an attorney. The guys on TV who say they’ll get you more? They’re overstating their results.
**Be VERY wary of treating with chiropractic if you don’t have a spinal misalignment. And even then, be careful. Muscle spasm & soft-tissue injuries will cause loss of cervical curvature that can MIMIC a problem with your bony spine. Chiros almost never start treatment with an MRI, and rely instead on x-rays. X-rays show bones—when bones don’t line up right they can say, “Aha! You’re misaligned!” MRI shows discs which, when damaged, can cause misalignment. Chiro work on a spine with a damaged disc can worsen the condition. And get this: Most cases I see where no treatment was involved at all? Pain & stiffness clears up in about 4-8 weeks. With Chiro treatment? 4-8 weeks. Have a good talk with your regular doctor about chiropractic before doing it. Just my opinion, mind you. I’m not a doctor and I don’t know what’s wrong with you.
Wait, you went to an ICP concert. Maybe I DO know what’s wrong with you. 
Bolding added.
Take it back and ask for a van. That is not an unreasonable request.