by hondaracer88si » Tue Apr 07, 2009 05:35 pm
i was involved in two accidents, six days apart. they both were relatively minor, the first with 1400 & the second with 2100 in property damage. unfortunately they both hit the front left corner of my truck. the 1st was an impact, the front left side of my truck hitting the back right of the cars bumper. the second was a sideswipe accident causing more damage, but the impact wasnt as severe. the second impact damaged the left front side, the 1st damaged the front left side. which company pays for what? If i follow the chiropractors recommendations, i will lose approx 10000 in wages. I live in NC(home of the contributory negligence law woohoo!!) Neither accident was my fault & both of the other drivers were cited.
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 09:18 pm Post Subject:
Ok as per your information both the drivers are cited then better get the information from them about their insurance company and inform insurer about the mishap.
When the first accident took place whether you had informed to the insurer company? i suppose not, if you would have been then you would not have got the chance to drive the same unrepaired vehicle.
What chiro says will also have a great impact on the health if you neglect them then it will be further implications so i request you to go for the information from the other driver's insurer.......... :wink:
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:33 pm Post Subject:
I would use my own insurance, get it fixed and let my insurer subrogate and determine the percentages with the other carriers and you would eventually get your deductible back. You certainly have contractual rights with your own insurance company and none with the other carriers. You would be depending on their ability to properly pay all your losses based on what they believe they owe you under restatement of torts due to the negligence of their insureds.
Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 01:01 am Post Subject:
My deductible is only $250.00 so thats what im leaning towards Mike of the Ozarks. My insurance called & offered to do that for me. will they decide who pays what portion of the deductible back to me. as fas as the accidents i think the 1st one did more damage to me, it was an impact, the other was more of a sideswipe. should i get a personal injury attorney involved. im imagining that both of the at fault companies are going to blame the other for my lost wages, etc.
company 1. sure well pay for the 1st six days, but after that company 2 is responsible
company 2. well your truck was damaged already & you were already hurt & out of work, so company 1 is responsible
how can i respond to this withoug getting an attorney involved.
Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 01:41 pm Post Subject:
If you have personal medical coverage, med pay, personal insurance protection (some states call it by different names) I would use my own coverage on personal injury and wait til the doctor releases me. This is more a question to be answered by insurance people on this board as I am mostly familiar with vehicle property damage issues. However most here are opposed to the hiring of attorneys on this board, but I wouldn't hesitate in the least to hire a competent attorney to handle my repairs or personal injury issues if they were complicated or were substantial.
In my opinion and experience, 66 percent of what an attorney can secure for you in your settlement is usually more than you will negotiate on your own behalf. Claims can be complicated and I am of the opinion that "He who holds the gold rules". Why would you want to negotiate a possibly complicated claim with the very people who are trained to settle these matters on what they feel is fair. That's just my opinion and experience.
One of the major insurers were recommending denying and delaying claims on personal injuries and handled persistent claimants with obstenance. They followed an industry guru's advice to put on the boxing gloves. I am not certain that they have refrained from these practices and many others saw the success of this company and used their same tactics, so how can you be sure the insurer handling your claim is acting in good faith or fairness towards your claim. I might not, but a competent attorney would.
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 04:39 am Post Subject:
Good hands to boxing gloves……really Mike you are going to start with that? Those “tactics” were used for slow speed/ light impact cases where injuries should have been little to none. Companies know that claimant’s are becoming more claims savvy with sites like this that inform them how to approach a claim to maximize the payout. Insurance knowledge is a good thing for the general public to have in all lines of insurance, but that knowledge can also be used to pad a homeowners claim or inflate an injury claim. (Personally I want an insurance class required for high school students, since most people deal with insurance at one time or another in their lifetime.)
Honda, attorneys serve a purpose and in some cases a good purpose. I disagree with Mike though; the 33% can be hard to make up depending on the size of the claim and the amount of medical bills. Claims where attorneys are involved also tend to drag. Your average personal injury attorney brings in about 40K per year. They do this taking every small injury claim they can take, and many times too many to service all. With a high volume of clients, they try and turn the small ones quick to get the quick buck. They turn them quick by basically selling out their client to the insurance company to get the thing settled. Their larger claims sit while their clients wait with only BS letters going back and forth. I just never understand why someone runs out right away and gets an attorney….I always figure I will try and see what I can do on my own.
Back to your claims. Are your two injury claims going to be complicated being so close together, sure. Depending on your state, you should have 1 to 2 years before the statute runs. That gives you plenty of time to get your treatment, heal and see what each company comes back with.
You understand that the medicals prior to your second accident would be considered under the first accident. What really matters is what was hurt in the first accident and what was hurt in the second accident. Same body parts… all soft tissue/neck issues. Most of the time sideswipes don’t cause many injuries if any…if it was just a sideswipe. (No jarring impact for neck injuries). I could see the second company try and say their driver caused little to no injury….if it was just a sideswipe.
So this is really your choice…. you could try and separate in your mind & body and be truthful on who caused what damage to what body parts, or you could go at the second company and tell them that the second accident aggravated the already injured body parts while also telling the first company that their driver caused all of the injuries. Make sure both companies receive all medical bills and records and see what they come back with once you heal or are prepared to settle. If you don’t seem to be getting anywhere you can always hire the attorney down the road and definitely if the statue is going to run. You never know, one company may offer you an amount that you agree with and you can settle with them. This will not hurt you in your other claim. If the other company is unreasonable you can always pursue them with the attorney.
I do agree with Mike on the property damage. Go through your own insurance as property damage on top of property damage can get sticky and take longer to get your car fixed.
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 04:56 am Post Subject:
Mike If all of us just say that 'He who holds the gold rules' then there won't be any point fighting for one's right.
I know that in current situation so many people are of having ideology of 'might is right' but still it will then curb the belief of common guy on the judiciary procedures and thus the good faith practice of the insurance.
I think if one has a valid reason and one knows that he is not fighting the battle in order to take undue advantage of the system i.e insurance then surely one will get a justice irrespective of this rule 'He who holds the gold rules'.
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 02:36 pm Post Subject:
Good hands to boxing gloves……really Mike you are going to start with that? Those “tactics” were used for slow speed/ light impact cases where injuries should have been little to none.
I'd be embarrassed if this happened on a large scale in my industry too. Where to start? We could talk about the practice of yellowsheeting. That was where claims coming in on yellow sheets instead of white was a signal that the claimants were poor, uneducated, and highly unlikely to be able to afford an attorney. And we could talk about American Family being reprimanded for their infamous "we'll pay that claim when pigs can fly" flying pig in the middle of the claims room that a judge had removed and put the office on notice for future antics. Northridge claims, Oklahoma City Tornadoes and State Farm, Hurricane (insert any name here). My favorite, give us our way or we'll pull our home owners policy out of your state until the state said, by the way take your profitable auto policies with you when you leave this state and don't let the screen door hit you on the way out.
I personally have met some shopowners who have spent one hundred thousand dollars in court costs and attorney's fees to prove they were right or their innocence on one case. They won but they lost and never recovered because the pockets on the other side are so deep. And they play that way too many times when they want to make an example out of you, just like Progressive did in New York with the Coraccaro Case in which they failed to prove but cost him several hundred thousand dollars. If they'll do it to shop owners at that level, you don't think they use the same philosophy when handling claims in many instances.
Why do some insurers spend such astronomical sums on advertising just to tell you they're the ones who will take care of you and make policyholders feel all warm and fuzzy inside because they use a certain insurer? It's because the claim process doesn't go all warm and fuzzy when they put on the boxing gloves or take hard line stands, like "if you don't like our offer, go use your own coverage" or for the mere fact insurers are taking all the appraisal processes out of policies forcing insured to sue in court if they disagree with the claims process.
There is enough dirt to go around on both sides, but these practices and instances are documented by court records and published in newspapers, and exposed on 60 minutes. You and most here may play by the rules but there are many that do not simply because they hold the power and the pocketbook. Hopefully these practices will have become extinct with the exposure some insurers are getting and may be getting under federal supervision and guidelines with the repeal of the state's only control of insurers.
Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 04:37 pm Post Subject: boxing match report
Good hands to boxing gloves……really Mike you are going to start with that? Those “tactics” were used for slow speed/ light impact cases where injuries should have been little to none. Companies know that claimant’s are becoming more claims savvy with sites like this that inform them how to approach a claim to maximize the payout. Insurance knowledge is a good thing for the general public to have in all lines of insurance, but that knowledge can also be used to pad a homeowners claim or inflate an injury claim. (Personally I want an insurance class required for high school students, since most people deal with insurance at one time or another in their lifetime.)
Allstate bobbed and weaved and got caught with an uppercut it seems.
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/SantaFeNorthernNM/Local-news-in-brief-Nov--14--2009
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Vigil said she would assess both compensatory and punitive damages because Allstate had tried to "extort and delay" by offering settlements that were only a fraction of what juries awarded the defendants. For example, Allstate offered Martinez $25,000 to settle, but a jury awarded her $160,000, Berardinelli said.
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