by tisha332164 » Mon Nov 29, 2010 08:44 pm
I got in an accident a month ago and it has taken that long for the other persons insurance company to claim they are at fault, although they are not paying my storage fee for my car that is totaled because they said they advised me to move it in the beginning, I live in an apartment were it could not sit for a month I had no other choice but to leave it at a shop for storage. Should they be responsible for those fees?
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:47 am Post Subject:
As a collision shop owner, I have never had an insurer fail to pay all storage charges because they chose to not accept liability until it was convenient for them to pay. If they are served notice that storage charges are accruing, and they choose to ignore, that is their loss. I just collected 1050.00 of inside storage charge because one insurer kept sending different appraisal companies in to estimate the loss and then sending those estimates to third party auditing companies to further reduce the amount of the estimate. It took them three weeks to determine it was a total loss. My estimate provided them the information in less than 48 hours.
Since my contract of repairs was with the vehicle owner and not the insurer and they chose not to take control of the repair, name their own repairer, and authorize those repairs, they became liable for all expenses incurred by their policy holder. Now in your case, the courts will look at the situation as you have due diligence to mitigate any future losses. If they would have offered to move the vehicle to a free storage area and return it to your chosen shop to mitigate the storage charges, they might have a leg to stand on I would think.
If the liability was clear and they just failed to do a timely investigation, and you have phone records and correspondence with the company in question, I would think you have done due diligence in the eyes of the law. I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. You should consult an attorney on this matter if they persist in claiming they do not owe all losses you incurred as a result of the negligence of their insured. You should also be entitled to any loss of use of your vehicle from the moment you were not able to use your vehicle and not when they choose to accept liability, in my non legal opinion .
Furthermore, if you would have had to pay someone to tow it and preserve the evidence for them to look at later, they likely would have been liable for those expenses as well. Many municipalities require that damaged vehicles are not allowed to be parked on public streets and in driveways as is my own. If you do not own a garage to conceal and store the vehicle and tow truck to transport it, what do they expect you to do? Courts examine what is reasonable and necessary and not what is usual and customary that some insurers attempt to avoid when paying third party claims. Copy any city or municipal codes that you can find online and forward a copy of your apartment complex requirements on storing wrecked non operable cars. If it were my vehicle I would advise them that I would consider seeking damages from their negligent insured in small claims court should they refuse to pay the reasonable claim when presented with your documents. Again not legal advice!
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 04:27 am Post Subject:
As a collision shop owner,
Wow, what great advice! To the original poster, listen to this advice!
I know it's not good to classify people into groups, but as a group, shop owners in general seem to be extremely helpful! I had my car moved from the original shop that got the car after the initial tow to a free storage shop. The initial tow and storage fees were seamlessly transferred from one shop to the other, and then that shop waited months during all the disputing. When I finally sold the car at auction, they worked with the insurance company to get their money so I didn't incur any out of pocket expense. In the position they're in, they could really stick it to people, but I found them to be very helpful.
Once again, what a great and very helpful post! :)
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:30 pm Post Subject:
Although I agree with Mike, you said that they stated they did advise you to move it in the beginning, did they? What documentation have they provided you with that support that they did? Sometimes an investigation can take awhile to determine liability. In your case, it sounds like they may have had trouble contacting their insured for a statement, the police report wasn't readily available etc. I find it unusual that they would have advised you to move the vehicle yourself in the beginning before an investigation was completed. In most if not all cases, when a vehicle is presumed a total loss before liability is determined, the insurer will have or obtain authorization to move the vehicle to avoid storage charges. I have to move vehicles all the time for insurers; many times before liability is determined and other factors. If they did not inform you to move the vehicle as they stated and it has taken this long to determine liability, then I would place them responsible for any and all storage fees. If I were you, I would contact the shop for information on what correspondence they have had with the insurer and any contact that they have had with an adjuster who inspected the damage.
Add your comment