AsianRage

That's messed up. The police should have came because it is the law.

Mongolian

I'm not surprised your insurance company won't do anything for you since you have a deductible for $500. Basically any body damage under $500 is your financial responsibility and that's the terms you've purchased your insurance under. You can't really blame the insurance company for this... You signed up for the terms of your coverage...

I'm surprised that your insurance company won't just waive your deductible since this is a clear cut liability. Most bigger insurance companies would do this as a service to their customer. You might want to consider switching insurance company.

I'm amazed at how his insurance company can stupidly deny you. Was it a direct hit to your bumper? Where was the damage to the bumper? Was it on the side of the bumper or the middle? If it's a dead smack center hit to the bumper, I'm just amazed at how the other adjust can deny you.

Here is my solution to you: Let the other adjuster know that you will file a complaint with your State's Department of Insurance given that you got hit dead smack in the middle of the vehicle and you were unfairly denied. If he does not budge, I would suggest you file a complaint with your State Department of Insurance. I can almost guarantee you that they will pay immediate attention to your claim (a little secret I learned when I was an adjuster in CA). I think most states have an electronic interface to file complaints against an insurance company. State does not mess around with claims, seriously.

If all else fails, there is small claims court. you'll be in and out in 5 minutes after you provide photos of your damage to the judge.

EDIT: I'm not sure how your state operates as far as underwriting is concerned, but I have a feeling most State operate very similarly to CA. Here is the case with accidents and how most insurance companies deal with them: If you file a claim and the damage is under your deductible, there really is no "claim" since there will be no expenses that your insurance company will incur. So... as far as your insurance company is concerned, there was no accident since there was no claim. Bottomline: No impact on your premium.

Sarlacc

Not true. they came out the two times I was in an accident. One Glendale PD...one CHP.

onebadna1nsx

same here. But with Temple City Sheriff's Dept and CHP.

YeuEmMaiMai

you need to sell your car and get something you can afford......if you cannot up front the $500, you should not be driving this car..........

spdy0001

My car has been paid off for 2 years and might be worth 12K, what would you like me to drive? A chevy aveo?

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

that sucks. about a year or two ago my sister pulled up to a gas station and couldnt move cus there was a car in front of her and some dude got in his car which was parked adn backed into her even though she honked the horn like a madman. he left a big dent in her car. he came out and was DEAF so didnt hear the horn and was writing stuff on a pad so my sister could read, then offered a check for $200 to repair the damage - haha that little amount wouldnt cover shit - so she was like no read my lips give me your insurance info. then as she calls insurance they said the guy totally DENIED it happening and she was of course fuckign furious but nothing she could do so she had to pay the ~$700 repair herself. fucking assholes.

dallison

i always go through the other guys' insurance. I don't want to put my money out to get my shit fixed.

Never Summer

What a dick move. There's a reason I have my digital camera in the car at all times, if someone hits me it's not like I wont immediately be taking pictures of the accident.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

I have heard of Erie before. They are a pretty decent company.

stright-(paint)balling

anytime there is body damage to my car and it's the other party's fault ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS( did i say ALWAYS) get a police report/ cop to come out. The reason why is 2 reasons.
#1. what the police says in the court of law stands up more than an average joe.
#2. most insurance companies quit argueing with each other if they got a 3rd party(the cop or police dept) draft a statement of what happened and the other guy cited.

When i was in college I got rear ended in my Accord(just chewed up the rear bumper on the Accord) what happened was i was coming up on a red light and coasting down and this LOADED old lady was coming out of a grocery store and rear ended me. I called the cops on my cell phone. she didn't want me to call them cause she knew she was gonna get cited. she offered to pay for it 100% plus 200 bucks i said no because if she skipped town or something i'm Shit out of luck. then the cops didn't want to cite her due to she donated like 2-3 million dollars of land i found out later to the city of Lima. I waited about 3-4 days after the accident i went to pick up the accident report (to turn into my insurance company) they said we're gonna determine it as "no one at fault" . the lady reporting officer said this.
I said how was she not at fault when i was going forward slowly and she re-ended me. I said I wanna talk to your supervisor. I her supervisor what happened. they ended up citeing her and her insurance company ate the bill 100%.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

You're a moron. People's finances change daily. He may have other more important obligations which are taking his focus and money at this point. Who the fuck are you to tell him what he can/can't afford and what he should/shouldn't drive when you don't know him from a hole in the wall?

I don't care how much money you have...there's never a "good time" for an accident or an unexpected outlay of cash.

the-carbon-comet

here in MD a few years ago a lady hit me i called the cops and they said they wouldnt come unless somebody was hurt. Second time i got hit i called they told me the same thing and the lady that hit gave me all fake info. I had her DL # and address but she didnt even live there anymore

clpassenubye

iTrader: (20)

Sorry about your situation it's very unsettling to get into an accident. I'm an insurance agent and I have heard of Erie and they are a pretty good company they are a regional insurance company that operates mostly on the east coast. As opposed to companies like Allstate, State Farm, Geico who operate nationally. If you can't afford your deductible then you did what you had to do and filed thru the other guys company.

I wish I could say I hadn't seen this happen before but I see it all the time where people get into an accident and change their story. If your ever in another accident always see if you can get an independent witness that's the best thing you can do. As many have said call the Police but not all police departments will respond to non injury accidents some will some won't and even if they do depending on the circumstances the Police report isn't always cut and dry on who's at fault I have seen many that don't call it either way. Some insurance companies claims departments discount friends and relatives as witnesses because they can be influenced. You did a good job with the pictures and that will probably make your case depending on a couple of other factors.

I'm not surprised they are waiting until they get the photo's because that's what adjusters are trained to do when they have conflicting stories. Luckily the guy who hit you didn't say that you rolled back into him then it really confuse things.


Insurance companies don't want to go to court unless they have to so they try to settle the claim so it doesn't get to that point because attorneys fees are exhorbitant and the loser pays for both sides attorneys fees so they try to avoid that when possible. Small claims is always an option but only you can way whether its worth the trouble or not for that amount.

Good luck with your case and I hope they see it your way and don't give you a hard time. If they do like Mongolian said file a complaint with the Dept of Insurance in your state there's no guarantee but if they find it to be a legitimate complaint they will usually help you.

Malayalee King

iTrader: (1)

go steal their car, part it out, and pay for damages

LuvMyTSX

And as I recall, the OP just bought his first home earlier this year, so we know where all his money is going. That, plus a wedding. So don't be so quick to assume someone else's financial situation.

spdy0001

Thanks for the support

Yes I didn't want to get into it really but my mortgage, home upgrades, and wedding expenses have priority over fixing a dented bumper

Not to mention I am kind of taking it personal that this guy had a conversation with me about the accident and is now denying it. To me at this point its much more about the principle than the money.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

I expect this from a cocky 18 year old. Not from someone who should be able to read and understand how other people value money.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Take care of the important things. IE wedding and house.

Check with your insurance company on if there is a time frame in which you need to have this resolved.

If it comes to it, I would file the claim and hold off on the actual repairs as long as you can. Someone said it right earlier that there is a chance that the other company is dicking your around because you are dealing with this on your own.

Also see if there is a body shop that will work with you.

spdy0001

I got a call back from the company yesterday after work. She said she has received my pics and should have a decision today. If its the not decision im looking for I will contact my insurance co.

elezam

I use Allstate, and if we ever had any problems, they took care of it right away. Whether someone hit us, or we hit them, we took it to the shop for the adjuster to see, and within a week and a half it was totally taken care of. Not to mention the shop giving us back our $500 deductible...

dallison

any calls yet?

spdy0001

Nothing yet

I will be calling her by the end of the week if I don't hear something

charliemike

Not to mention the principle of the whole thing.

Even if $500 was what I used to wipe my ass with every morning I'd still be pissed that I had to front it because my insurance company hired Simple Jack to handle its claims department.

phile

Most decent insurance companies waive the deductible or refund it. Which was what I've been telling the OP the whole time.

spdy0001

Yes they will refund it, but I don't want to pay it in the first place...K THX BY

taitando

Insurance companies take a long ass time to do refunds. My old RL got into an accident back in March. I put out the $500 deductible to get the car fixed and they determined it to be 50/50 fault, so I was supposed to get $250 back. It's now September and I still haven't seen a check. When I called them they blamed the other adjuster and said they'd get the check out to me "right away"

stright-(paint)balling

I always love it when they work on "your money" but when they want "their money" it's RIGHT NOW.

Jake 6MT

iTrader: (1)

dang sorry bout you're insurance issues, and not trying to change the subject from something serious cuz my last accident was a financial mess, but i love how you add cliff notes to the first post though.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

I just got mine back from my July accident. JULY 2004.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

spdy - were you on Willow Springs Lane at about 12:30 today?

tiguy99

I just had someone do this to me on Friday. I haven't even had my car 3 months and wham I got rear ended during the rain storm on Friday. In Chicago the cops don't come either. They recommend both parties cruise down to the station to file a police report.

Since the party that hit me had a language barrier (English not their first language) I knew it would be difficult to convince him to come with me to the police station especially when he kept saying "I give u money please please"

Long story, I got all his info, snapped a pic of my bumper and drove right to the station and filed the report myself. Since he was at fault, and I had all of his info, they let me file the report anyway.

My insurance wanted me to do the claim with them offering to go after his company like the OP however I'm following up with the claimant's insurance the morning to file the claim with them. Wish me luck

SRK85

Next time call the police, in fact calling the police should be the first thing done if the accident has a good amount of damage. I've had my car rear ended with hardly any damage just a few scratch marks, so I didn't have to call the police.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

tiguy....same thing happened to me. The guy offered to pay me, but it was a hard enough hit that I assumed the damages was going to be high. Luckily I was able to get a cop there and file a report, because my sister was hurt and we would have gotten nothing for her injuries if he had paid. And, as it turned out, the other driver was lying and didn't have the money to pay for the damages.

spdy0001

Sorry I just saw this...

Yes I was I leaving work for lunch

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Cool. I drove past you in my Pathfinder. You car looks sweet.

stright-(paint)balling

holy shit a little over 4 years. they were jerking you around. I would have had a cow over 4 years take to finish it out

Time For Sleeep

agreed, no ifs ands or buts, if the accident is serious enough to warrant calling insurance, it is serious enough to get a police report written up


fuck giving people the benefit of the doubt to owning up to their mistakes

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

I wrote the cash off when I found out the other driver didn't really have insurance. He had a "Welfare" policy in NJ. It covered him and him only. So for the last 4 years he has been making payments to the insurance company since they sued his ass.

My insurance (old insurance) company didn't jerk me around at all.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

I think in the OP's case he had an experience where the cops refused to come.