hi,i was hit by a drunk driver a few months ago. My brand n

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 05:31 am Post Subject:

If they paid for a rental why are you missing work? They owe you for a similarly equipped vehicle. I'm looking at the Fit and it ain't no SUV. I could see them not putting you in a Focus (though, I have no doubt that it would fit as much as the Fit) but I'd say an intermediate vehicle would be the same. What do they have you in?

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 11:17 am Post Subject:

I'm requesting they cover missed gigs

and rental upgrade...

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 02:45 pm Post Subject: hit by a drunk driver

thx for the feedback -

here's some answers to above questions...

the insurance company delayed in giving me a rental car...i went 31 days without a car, which is where the missed gigs comes in

the fit vs suv
I purchased the fit specifically because it was a fuel efficient car that could hold all my equipment...it has one small design difference that makes it work - that other small cars don't have...the backseat lies flat - which is ideal for packing long, flat equipment...other small cars backseat lie down, but not perfectly flat - so cars like the focus don't fit my equipment...

number of gigs missed - i generally gig 5x week...i missed the gigs because i had no vehicle to get there, to carry my equipment...

any feedback is appreciated...

thx

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 03:43 pm Post Subject:

I guess the next question is why the insurance company did not put you in a rental for a month. I could see a week or two but a month is a long time.

You'd have a duty to mitigate your loss. If the gigs paid more then the rental then why would you not have rented a car on your own and worked. Also, did you not have collision insurance on the Fit?

What the other insurance company should have done was told or, or better yet, also sent you a letter explaining the delay and that you had a duty to mitigate your loss. They are not required to to do this and I'm betting that they shared something along these lines when they did not settle your loss for a month.

What you are entitled to is 31 days loss of use while you did not have a rental. This is what they would owe you.

Also, I'm just really doubting that you could not use something like a Ford Focus. The seats lay down almost perfectly flat and I see no reason why this would be different. I did this all of the time to put long items in the back. Also, the trunk will hold 4 people... 5 if you bend them just right. It's huge. But we are still back to the fact that you could/should have rented a vehicle yourself and paid for it with your earnings, which would have easily covered the cost.

Would some carriers make some concession for you? Probably. But in this situation I don't see that you have much of a standing.

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 08:51 pm Post Subject:

number of gigs missed - i generally gig 5x week...i missed the gigs because i had no vehicle to get there, to carry my equipment...