I need help with a possible comp claim.

Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 04:39 am Post Subject:

From which state you are? As per my knowledge It is not possible that someone claim car damage from your part of insurance.

During the accident have you contact your insurance company What they are saying ?

Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 07:33 am Post Subject:

Hi!

Welcome to the forum.

Under no-fault law, your auto insurance company will pay for the damage regardless of whoever is responsible for it. But there is no state which practices pure no-fault law. Therefore, the other party can always hold you liable for their financial damages.

In your situation, they can make a claim against you. But they should file the claim with their insurance company first. If they are causing too much trouble, I will suggest that you contact an insurance lawyer. He will be the best person to guide you on this issue.

Hope this will help you. If you have any further queries, always feel free to ask.

Regards,
Juanita

Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 07:16 pm Post Subject:

First, let me just say that "No-Fault" _only applies to injuries_... in all but 1 or 2 states and even then, it only limits property damage claims... so no fault really has _nothing_ to do with property damage claims.

Sorry Juanita, you could not be more incorrect with your post (unless the OP lives in Michigan, then your only about 3/4 incorrect).

Second, anyone can file a claim against anyone's insurance policy for any reason. But all of that is really moot as it's not the way to look at the matter.

Lastly, here is what you want to keep in mind:

Get "insurance" out of your mind. Having insurance or not does not matter, at least not when it comes to property damage. Also, I don't know of any state that requires someone have comprehensive or collision coverage on their own vehicle.

What you _need_ to consider... is the driver of your vehicle legally responsible for the damage to the other person's property. Again, nothing to do with having insurance. So if you are legally liable, you _can be held responsible for that person's loss_ by whatever legal means the other party has available.

So let's assume you are liable. You now legally owe the other person $2000. You are more then welcome to pull $2000 out of your pocket and pay the other person what you owe. You don't want to do that? You have insurance? Read on....

Now.... read the open paragraph of the liability portion of your auto policy. It states something such as, "We will pay the amount your become legally obligated to pay as a result of bodily injury or property damage..." (of course, there are many stipulations that follow). Thisis why you have (liability)insurance... to pay the portion of someone elses loss that you owe. So you don't have to reach in your pocket for that $2000, $10,000 or $100,000 (ouch!).

So the other parties "complaint" is against _you_... not your insurance company. It certainlly appears from your description of the accident that they could legally pursue recovery against you, including filing in small claims court and obtaining a judgement against you. But to make a long story short, this still does not guarentee them payment. Neither does asking you to pay their loss. So most people would rather contact the at-fault parties insurance company as insurance companies tend to pay losses that their insured's owe.

Why do you (?) or other people have 1st party insurance (comprehensive and collision) on their own vehicles? For many reasons. When their is accidental damage to that person's car and no one else is responsible... their own insurance could then take over the loss and pay for the damage. If someone hits their car and drives away without leaving any info or if someone hit's their car and then cannot pay the loss right away (the at-fault party does not have insurance, etc). In theses cases they are paying for 1st party coverage to protect themselves. But this 1st party coverage never relieves an at-fault party from their responsiblity of causing the damage.

So having or not having insurance does not change who is responsible for addressing the property damage. Most states only require _liability_ insurance so that everyone has some degree of financial responsiblity (which every state requires).

Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 04:14 am Post Subject: comp claim

Thanks for the input. I do live in the state of Michigan. The owner of the car is now claiming $1300.00 damages to her $2000.00 car. she is also claiming damages not caused by our incident. I refuse to pay out of pocket that ridiculous amount. Can I inform the insurance company of her fraudulent charges? Can I ask her to go to a different collison shop for a more apropriate quote. She is trying to take advantage of us trying to keep it from my insurance carrier. Also does anyone know at what point will they total the car out. This is silly as there is just a ding in the door, but with a $1300.00 claim on a blue book value car of $2000.00 won't they refuse to fix it? Will they give her blue book value or just a few hundred dollars. I would think she may need to be careful as she could end up with nothing. One more question.... If this is a comp claim, she has no collision coverage, can she apply to her own company for comp?

Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 05:04 am Post Subject:

Arrgggg... Michigan! Tell me it's not so! :)

Give me until 5/24 and I'll post some more information as Michigan is a different beast all together! Yes, Juanita is almost correct in her post! There is something like the other person only being able to collect their deductible and if they don't carrier 1st party coverage on their vehicle then they can only collect an amount like $200. I'll have to look this info up to speak better on the issue.