by tomhulu1 » Sat Oct 30, 2010 05:05 am
I was involved in an accident and I was not at fault. There were no injuries.
However, the other party did not cooperate with their insurance and it took the other ins 2 months to get back to me. They have gotten back to me and accept full liability.
During the 2 months, I was without a car. I did not want to rent a car just in case I lost and had to pay for the rental. It was a difficult 2 month for me, hitching rides, etc etc.
Can I claim for loss of use. Some folks say that if I do not have a rental receipt, I cannot claim. However, I could not use my car for 2 months!
The other party's ins has offered to rent me a car starting now that they have accepted liability. they offered me $25 a day for car rental from enterprise car rental.
Was wwondering if I could claim loss of use for the 2 months based on this $25 rate. Does not seem fair that I continued paying for taxes and insurance and dep on car but yet not be able to use it. My place of work is about 25 miles from home.
However, the other party did not cooperate with their insurance and it took the other ins 2 months to get back to me. They have gotten back to me and accept full liability.
During the 2 months, I was without a car. I did not want to rent a car just in case I lost and had to pay for the rental. It was a difficult 2 month for me, hitching rides, etc etc.
Can I claim for loss of use. Some folks say that if I do not have a rental receipt, I cannot claim. However, I could not use my car for 2 months!
The other party's ins has offered to rent me a car starting now that they have accepted liability. they offered me $25 a day for car rental from enterprise car rental.
Was wwondering if I could claim loss of use for the 2 months based on this $25 rate. Does not seem fair that I continued paying for taxes and insurance and dep on car but yet not be able to use it. My place of work is about 25 miles from home.
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 09:56 am Post Subject:
You can claim LOU, of course. However, they won't owe those full 2 months. You have a duty to mitigate your loss. This includes having your vehicle repaired. I'd suspect that they would pay LOU for the repair time on the vehicle plus a week.. maybe 2 weeks at the most.
What is "dep on car"? Is this debt.. .as in car payments? If so, then you should also have collision coverage and you could have used that to mitigate your loss.
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 04:11 pm Post Subject: New FL Adjuster
Hey Tcope -
I work at a large well known insurance company as an adjuster. Got hired straight out of college 1.5 years ago. Handled PD only claims up until June when I was promoted to our BI Department. We handle multi-states (14 different SE states) in our office. Our BI department is divided as all other and FL. I've been handling non-FL BI claims since June. Just found out yesterday that they feel I'm ready for FL BI and I make the transition next week.
I'm FL licensed and we learned all about PIP, etc. during training, but it's knowledge I haven't had to use. I'm pretty worried about bein sucessful. There will be no formal training prior to the transition.
I've read a new of your posts. You seem very knowledgeable about about FL BI. Any words of wisdom?
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 04:44 pm Post Subject:
"dep on car" means depreciation on car while car is not used for the 2 months.
This 2 month period is before any repairs were done on the car. I knew I was in the right as I had an independent witness. So I did not want to claim my insurance which will jack up my premiums. However, as I do not have rental car coverage, I did not want to incur out of pocket expenses for car rental.
The other insurance was having problems getting cooperation from their insured and I had no idea how long this would take. So definately did not want to come out of pocket for many months of rental car. What if they came out with a 50/50 liability solution!
Towards the end of the 2 month wait, I almost gave up and went to my own insurance to get an estimate on how much it cost to fix the car. Guess I should have waited another week! Anyway they totaled my car.
Another question, do they give you a rental car for a week or two while you try and locate a similar car since they totalled it?
The moemnt the other ins accepted liability they were in a super hurry to send me the check and rent me a car - why is that so?
"You can claim LOU, of course. However, they won't owe those full 2 months. You have a duty to mitigate your loss. This includes having your vehicle repaired. I'd suspect that they would pay LOU for the repair time on the vehicle plus a week.. maybe 2 weeks at the most.
What is "dep on car"? Is this debt.. .as in car payments? If so, then you should also have collision coverage and you could have used that to mitigate your loss."
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 06:57 pm Post Subject:
"dep on car" means depreciation on car while car is not used for the 2 months
If anything the vehicle depreciated even less as it was not being used. The insurance company probably won't make you pay for this. :lol:So I did not want to claim my insurance which will jack up my premiums.
I'm not so sure that is correct. Most (all?) won't if they don't find you at fault. They would also seek recovery of the money they spent. It's completely up to you if you want to file a claim under your own policy... but the point is... you have a duty to mitigate your loss (keep it as low as possible). You had the ability to have your vehicle repaired so that you'd not have that 2 month LOU. But you choose not to do this. I'm not making judgement, I'm just pointing this out as a fact.However, as I do not have rental car coverage, I did not want to incur out of pocket expenses for car rental.
This does not fly. Was your vehicle drivable? If not, then you are in the same boat if you waited as you did or if you filed under your own policy and the vehicle was in the shop. The difference is, your LOU is less. If your vehicle was drivable then you are not entitled to LOU consideration.Another question, do they give you a rental car for a week or two while you try and locate a similar car since they totalled it?
No.. insurance companies owe LOU compensation until they make an offer on the vehicle. But most will extend it a few days past this... just depends on the carrier and adjuster. Most will extend it 3, perhaps 4 days. They really need to mention that as soon as they know it's a total loss and/or make an offer.The moemnt the other ins accepted liability they were in a super hurry to send me the check and rent me a car - why is that so?
Because they are required to do this? Would you rather then drag their feet on the claim? They are minimizing what they owe on LOU. By moving forward quickly when they can they have limited the time that you would have needed a rental, etc. They also want to pay your claim and move on to the next 100 claims coming in that week.I'm not trying to be rude. I'm just stating the facts as they are. I understand it's _really_ frustrating when the other carrier does not (can't) accept liability... especially because their insured is a deadbeat. I've handled claims for non-standard companies for a long time (for insured's who are high risk). If they don't get something out of it, they don't bother to pick up the phone and speak to their insurance company. They can't be bothered to spend the 2 minutes on the phone after they were idiots and hit someone. But they will bitch and moan when they need something. It's tough on the adjuster as they want to do their job and they don't want the irate claimant on the phone with them every day. But there is nothing they can do... they owe a duty to their insured to verify the facts of the loss.. even if their insured is a complete bonehead.
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 06:58 pm Post Subject:
I've read a new of your posts. You seem very knowledgeable about about FL BI. Any words of wisdom?
A book full. Start a new thread and I'll write them.Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 02:44 am Post Subject:
However, as I do not have rental car coverage, I did not want to incur out of pocket expenses for car rental.
[and response]
This does not fly. Was your vehicle drivable? If not, then you are in the same boat if you waited as you did or if you filed under your own policy and the vehicle was in the shop. The difference is, your LOU is less. If your vehicle was drivable then you are not entitled to LOU consideration.
tcope has nailed it down tight for you. Think of a slightly different scenario: I was injured in the accident that was another person's fault. But I did not want to spend my own money to fix my broken arm, because I was afraid my insurance company would raise my rate. So I waited two months for the other insurance company to pay for my arm to be fixed. In the meantime, it hurt a lot and I needed a lot of aspirin. Can I get paid for all the aspirin I needed?
Really . . . would you wait two months to fix a broken arm? Why would you wait two months to fix a broken car if you depended on it for your transportation. The fact that you were terribly inconvenienced is understandable.
The fact that it could have been "mitigated" to a couple of weeks instead of a couple of months is something of your own doing. And as a result, you bear the cost of that.
My place of work is about 25 miles from home.
You might have been able to use public transportation, or you could have taken a temporary residence closer to work. Plenty of people solve their distance dilemma exactly like that.
I'm in agreement with tcope, your inconvenience was exacerbated by your own foot dragging.
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 06:29 pm Post Subject:
Car was not drivable.
I took public transport which added significantly to my commute time. If I could, I tried to catch a ride with a friend but that was infrequent.
I tried to reduce my losses by not making a claim and not renting a car.
My premiums were about to be renewed and a new claim could very well cause the premium to skyrocket. After all who knows how long the other side is going to take.
Yes I foot dragged in terms of starting my repairs but that is as a result of the other party taking such a long time.
What if I did not have collision coverage. Would that entitle me to LOU then?
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 07:11 pm Post Subject:
I tried to reduce my losses by not making a claim and not renting a car.
But you want them to pay LOU... which is basically the cost of a rental. So you cannot say that you were mitigating your loss if you are going to ask to be paid LOU.What if I did not have collision coverage. Would that entitle me to LOU then?
No. You having collision coverage only strengthens the other parties position that you did not mitigate your loss.There is no indication that your rates would have increased if you file a claim. Most carriers ignore even 1 at fault accident. I don't know of any that increase rates for an accident that was someone else's fault. Even if the other carrier did not pay the claim (denied coverage for some reason) your carrier could/would pursue recovery directly from the owner/driver.
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