by huh » Wed Jan 16, 2008 07:49 am
A woman hit my car in a parkng lot. Their was a police report saying she backed into me. Her insurance said the police report only says my side of the story and they dont go by the police statement. Her insurance told me their not paying me to get my car fixed. I have been trying to get the video from the store to show she hit me but the store wont give me the video to send to her insurance. I dont have the money to fix my car. Can anyone help me on what I should do?
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:13 am Post Subject:
try running an ad in your local newspaper asking if anyone may have witnessed the accident. also, supply the video store with a blank tape(preferrably purchased from their store) and ask if they will give you a copy that shows the accident. if the video store still refuses to supply you with a copy then defineately stop buying and renting videos there!
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:26 am Post Subject:
A woman hit my car in a parkng lot. Their was a police report saying she backed into me. Her insurance said the police report only says my side of the story and they dont go by the police statement.
This is correct and you have to agree that they cannot use this type of report...Her insurance told me their not paying me to get my car fixed.
clearly she either says she didn't do it or a different story than yours...I have been trying to get the video from the store to show she hit me but the store wont give me the video to send to her insurance
why? what is the reason? as honestr said see if they will copy it for you, or contact the police dept (preferably the same officer that handled your report) and see if they can compell the store to give you a copy...I dont have the money to fix my car. Can anyone help me on what I should do?
You have to have 'evidence' if after getting the tape (if you do) they still won't pay (and i'm sure they will pay if it shows her hitting you-were you parked I assume?)...then file a small claims court action these are very inexpensive to do...if you get a small claims judgement her carrier has to pay or fight the judgement.Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 07:09 am Post Subject:
Hi huh, if the woman backed into vehicle and your car was properly parked then she is definitely at-fault. And her insurer can't possibly deny you the claim.
Their was a police report saying she backed into me. Her insurance said the police report only says my side of the story and they dont go by the police statement.
Why so?? hasn't her statement got recorded? Do as honnestr has said, if you are lucky to find an eye witness, you may make them change their mind. The women surely have denied the responsibility of the accident.
Haven't you have insurance on your own car?? you can then file the claim with your carrier and later no let them go after the other party's insurance company. This process is called subrogation.
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:38 am Post Subject:
Hi huh, if the woman backed into vehicle and your car was properly parked then she is definitely at-fault. And her insurer can't possibly deny you the claim.
Unless she told her insurer she did not do it! (which is what I'm betting happen)..Why so?? hasn't her statement got recorded?
apprently not...police report only says my side of the story
It's a one sided report they can't use it..
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:24 am Post Subject:
In my experience I've seen the cop to ask both the driver involved in the accident to describe the scenario ( yeah, at times one party may influence the report, but both were asked to sing their part of story). My question to you Lori , under what circumstances the police report only register the statement of one driver and that of not the other? Please help me in understanding the facts better.
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:01 pm Post Subject:
My question to you Lori , under what circumstances the police report only register the statement of one driver and that of not the other? Please help me in understanding the facts better.
Well always in a hit and run...which I'm guessing this loss ''kind of'' might be...Anytime anyone does a 'walk in'' report to the police dept, unless 'both' parties walk in (which is rare), then there is only one side to the report...I'm guess that our OP (or another example), came back to his parked car and had reason to believe the vehicle next to him (or a note was left by a witness maybe) had hit him...he then reports to the police, 'one side'' is all there is...I've seen this many many times handling claims and on the other side, a claimant reports a claim saying that our insured hit their parked car, the claimant goes to the police and says, 'jane doe driving a 1979 pinto hit my parked car at the walmart, here is the license plate info etc''.. the cops will make a report then that's it...they generally won't follow up any further especially on private property...now what am i to do as an adjuster? I contact my insured take a statement he says, 'my car was in the garage all day!' I as the adjuster will then inspect the insured and claimant vehicles will attempt to 'match up' damage if there is any...all adjusters/companies won't go to that extent....but in the end if my insured has no damage, no witness, I HAVE to accept my insured's word over the claimants...assuming all things are equal....hope this cleared it up some...Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 02:11 am Post Subject:
That does make sense, Lori, I was going to ask the same question myself as to how it could be a one-sided police report.
When you think about it, what's to stop someone from hitting your car then picking out someone else's car at random in the parking lot and leaving an anonymous note on your windshield describing that innocent person's car and license plate number?!
I guess that's why you'd inspect your insured parties car too eh.
While I sympathize with huh, (having had a car smash into mine while it was parked outside my house many years ago I know how rotten it is when you're not even IN the car, never mind at fault..it just adds insult to injury) I can see the situation from both sides more clearly now.
Thank you, Lori! :D
Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 02:28 am Post Subject:
When you think about it, what's to stop someone from hitting your car then picking out someone else's car at random in the parking lot and leaving an anonymous note on your windshield describing that innocent person's car and license plate number?!
Due to insurance being a legal thing, they can't get that far without proof, if a claim turns out to be false, the insurance company will lose out on money, business and reputation. Which is the reason why they go over things that are suspicious with a fine-toothed comb, even to the point of having people swear under oath.
Besides, it's rare that a car will hit another, and one of them doesn't get a scratch on it. If I saw a dent in my car, and the car that was meant to have hit it is in perfect condition, I'll be grabbing surveillance tapes.
As for the issue at hand, get a hold of the police and get a report from her, and have them force the store to fork over the tapes. If there is a cop wanting a statement from her, and proof, then she has two choices;
1. Lie and get busted by the tape, and probably get arrested for lying to the police.
2. Or face the music and pay up for the damage.
Be quick on it though, even though stores are supposed to keep the tapes for months before reusing them, some don't last a week.
Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:05 am Post Subject:
Yeah, you have to look at it from the other perspective, if your carrier calls you and says, ''john doe just turned in a claim saying you hit his car, HE HAS A POLICE REPORT''...(course only his side)...you wouldn't want your carrier to go, ''ok, have a wreck get a check...here you go john doe!'' Even though you maintain you never left your house that day!
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 07:35 pm Post Subject: Do you have your own insurance?
From my experience in the auto industry I think the quickest way to get the "other" insurance to pay was to report it to yours.
If you have insurance take police report to your agent and file a claim to fix your car. Especially if you have under insured or uninsured motorist coverage. They will fix your car but they will also go after her insurance to recover.
Just an idea but I bet your insurance can accomplish a lot toward getting reimbursed than you can get trying to deal with the other insurance yourself.
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