In early September, she backed out of her apartment parking-space and banged into another car, damaging the door with her tow-ball. She left her contact details on the car’s windscreen acknowledging her liability, and the owner contacted her a couple of days later thanking her for her honesty, and telling her, ‘Leave it with me’.
She heard no more about it. A week later the car reappeared in the car park with the damage repaired. She had anticipated a fairly major bill (the car was a new model somethingorother, worth around $35k), but the weeks went on and she heard nothing from either the owner or his insurance company…and she breathed a minor sigh of relief, thinking that maybe the car owner had the car fixed on his own tab??
So today, Nov 27th, nearly three months after the prang she gets a letter from his insurance company demanding payment for the damages (total, $920). The letter of demand also included the rider that there might be further charges down the track (as yet unspecified) but assumed to be things like a hire-car whilst the car in question was being repaired.
My questions are: is it normal procedure for an insurance company to wait so long (after repairs are quoted and completed) before serving an order to pay? And can they serve one order (for the $920) and later demand payment for other costs (the unspecified ones above)??
My daughter is somewhat pissed-off because at the time of the bingle she had money to pay for the damages outright. Now, coming into Xmas (and with two kids) her monetary reserves are…how can we say this politely…she’s skint!
I’ve advised her that she can indeed approach the insurance company to have time to pay the bill, but the timing questions still remain.
Turn it over to her insurance company. That is what she pays them to do, handle stuff like this. 3 months is nothing, in most cases insurance claims can be made up to one year after the accident.
My insurance company dealt with a claim filed a year after the accident happened. The guy I bumped into waited that long before filing it. They weren’t happy, but in this case they covered the cost so they let the claim go through.
So it doesn’t sound like three months hits any statute of limitations. Have you daughter contact her insurance company to deal with the issue, of have her just pay the bill if she doesn’t want her rates affected.
But is three months normal for an insurance company claim? My experience has been that once the quote has been submitted for approval, the bill is sent to the poor schmuck who has to pay, post haste…they don’t muck around!
*She is not claiming it through her insurance because her her excess is $900 anyway, and it will bump her premiums up astronomically NEXT year.
I dunno about Victoria and dunno about specific MVA limits but most places around Australia the general time limit for a negligence claim is six years.
When my wife’s car got hit by a truck, our insurance company was still billing their insurance company more than a year after the accident. Also, we had some initial work done to fix damage that was known about right away. A few months after that, more damage was discovered (the tires were wearing unevenly, and that pointed to a misalignment somewhere).
So… three months is fast. And, yes, there could be more charges coming in the future.
If I were your daughter, I’d be talking to my insurance company regardless of what they’ll do with her rates. Better for them to find out sooner and help her navigate the legal and liability issues than for them to find out when it is too late for them to help. If she doesn’t want the insurance company involved, she should at least get an attorney (who will, of course, cost her more than the insurance company).
I don’t know where you are, you mentioned excess so I’m guessing not-America? Anyway, for information’s sake… In the US, a claim can be reported at *any *time before the expiration of the statute of limitations in that state–2 to 5 years, generally. Of course, as more time passes, it becomes harder to prove.
In the US, you never pay a deductible for damages caused to the other vehicle. The coverage doesn’t work that way. You only pay a deductible when you have your own vehicle repaired by your own insurance company, using your collision or comprehensive coverage. A claim of this magnitude (under 1k = approximately nothing) would add a small fault surcharge to the policy for a few years, but nothing astronomical.
*I take first notice of claim calls for an insurance company. I have no knowledge of claims management in other countries. Don’t base any financial decisions off of this information. For all you know, I’m an android who was sent to earth for the explicit purpose of dispensing inaccurate advice on message boards.
Ultimately, the whole insurance process is being handled under tort law - that’s why liability for the damage exists in the first place. While this is a simple case that can be settled without litigation, the OP’s daughter should still have counsel on her side that will look out for her interests.
Here’s a great example from this scenario: If the OP’s daughter had called her insurer or her attorney right away, I’m sure the first thing she’d have been told was to take pictures of the damage. This is what she’d need to know whether $900 is a reasonable repair cost, or whether the victim (or their insurer) is just looking for a big pay out.
Xema brings up another good example - get a written agreement that the $900 satisfies all liability. The OP’s daughter has already received one unexpected bill - could there be more? Is paying the first bill admission of guilt for the later ones?
Not necessarily. Some states have notice provisions in addition to statutes of limitations; you might have four years to bring your claim, but only 12 months to notify the adverse party.
Insurance is tricky shit. If I’ve learned anything by working in this industry, it’s that very few rules apply universally. Also, when lawyers get involved, normal timetables go out the window for a LOT of things. I’ve never heard of a “notice provision,” but I don’t doubt you for a second.
For instance, an idiot might think it’s fine to drive without liability insurance in Louisiana. After all, *they *would never cause an accident, and the other person’s insurance will pay for damages if someone else hits them. But LA’s “no pay no play” law means, if your car wasn’t insured at the time of an accident, you can’t collect the first $10,000 of damages–against *anyone’s *insurance. Even if the other guy rear-ended you at a red light and it was 110% his fault, you can’t collect a penny until your damages exceed that amount. It’s like a $10,000 penalty for not having insurance.
Ultimately, the whole buying an iphone process is being handled under contract law - that’s why you pay what the shop asks in the first place. While buying an iphone is a simple case that can be settled without litigation, a person buying an iphone should still have counsel on their side that will look out for their interests.
You don’t need a lawyer for a $900 parking bump. You are just increasing the total of what the incident is going to cost Kam’s daughter by a good 30% (absolute minimum, probably more) the moment she walks into the lawyer’s office.
Asking for a full release from the insurance company at this point isn’t a stupid idea, never know till you ask I guess, but it’s highly doubtful they are going to agree unless they weren’t actually going to claim anything more anyway.
And it’s bleedingly obvious that the incident was Kam’s daughter’s fault, so it’s hardly worth worrying about if an admission is being made by making a payment.
Well, the OP’s daughter has already paid an insurance company. And this insurance company has their own lawyers. I’m not actually recommending that she go out and hire her lawyer - but if it’s her goal to avoid talking to her own insurance company, I firmly believe she needs some kind of expert advocating for her position.
It’s incredibly foolish to approach a situation like this by assuming that your ignorance cannot hurt you.
For starters, they could answer questions like the OP’s:
Am I the only person here who believes that there is no risk for unspecified future damages to be billed? That the first bill might be the SMALL one? Is the next bill going to be for the priceless antique china that was in the trunk? That she may be waiving legal rights, failing to document evidence, or exposing herself to additional liability by being unaware of the process involved?
Maybe I’m colored by my experiences with the legal system. My father and grandfather spent 8 years fighting over my mother’s probate, which had a net value of about $15,000 net. (Yes, they spent more fighting over it than it was worth - about $25,000 between them - and I spent another $5,000 when I was 18 to kick them out as executors and settle it myself.) That fight was only made possible because she had no will and my father said “Oh, all right, let’s finalize my divorce posthumously. After all, we’re finished with the divorce except for one little signature on one little page. What could go wrong?” What went wrong is that her assets then went to us kids, not her spouse, and we were minors so that our grandparents could step in to “protect our interests.”
So there we are - failure to get a will, failure to consult an attorney. $1,000 in attorney’s fees avoided today at a cost of $30,000 tomorrow, with a family completely destroyed in the process.
So when I see “unspecified future damages” in a letter, let’s just say I’m not thinking about the $920.
The excuse that she had the money 3 months ago, but doesn’t now, doesn’t hold water. She knew she was at fault, and should have set aside some money for this expense, especially since she wasn’t going to turn the claim over to her own insurance company. Obligations like this don’t just disappear over a period of three months.
