by barbasol1 » Sat Jul 21, 2012 10:51 am
Hi guys,
My parked car was hit by another driver. I've reported it to my insurer, but since I have liability-only, they are sending me to the at-fault party's insurer.
I've called the at-fault party's insurance and they've said "maybe we will get back to you in 3 business days."
I know that under (TX) tort law I have a duty to mitigate my damages. But I don't think I can fix the car until at least their adjuster has had an opportunity to look at it (and until they officially make a determination about fault?) As I understand it, the loss-of-use clock runs at least from the time of the claim to the time that I can get it repaired without "destroying evidence" or whatever.
I am an under-25 in a big city, and weekly rates for actually renting an economy car are about $41/day. This seems to be a lot higher than what other people are offered in settlements. If they offered me an actual rental car I would be happy to take it, but they are so slow I suspect it will be a week or more before they even so much as take my statement, let alone make an official fault determination.
Another issue is--I know enough to take it to my own body shop and get an estimate rather than rely on their kickback shop. The question is, when? If I take it on Monday and then they sit around on their hands for two weeks will I accrue a bunch of storage fees? I feel like an independent estimate would be a good thing to have as a negotiating point but I don't know how early in the process I need it. Am I jumping the gun?
I'm also not sure whether or not they will total the car. It's minor damage, but it's to an older car without a whole lot of value, and if it turns out there is hidden mechanical damage they might try and claim it as a loss. If so, I have to go through the whole process of finding a comparable car, and then worry about how this effects things like paying for a rental / loss of use and storage fees at the body shop.
Sorry, I'm new to this and a little green around the ears. Can you help me get straightened out?
My parked car was hit by another driver. I've reported it to my insurer, but since I have liability-only, they are sending me to the at-fault party's insurer.
I've called the at-fault party's insurance and they've said "maybe we will get back to you in 3 business days."
I know that under (TX) tort law I have a duty to mitigate my damages. But I don't think I can fix the car until at least their adjuster has had an opportunity to look at it (and until they officially make a determination about fault?) As I understand it, the loss-of-use clock runs at least from the time of the claim to the time that I can get it repaired without "destroying evidence" or whatever.
I am an under-25 in a big city, and weekly rates for actually renting an economy car are about $41/day. This seems to be a lot higher than what other people are offered in settlements. If they offered me an actual rental car I would be happy to take it, but they are so slow I suspect it will be a week or more before they even so much as take my statement, let alone make an official fault determination.
Another issue is--I know enough to take it to my own body shop and get an estimate rather than rely on their kickback shop. The question is, when? If I take it on Monday and then they sit around on their hands for two weeks will I accrue a bunch of storage fees? I feel like an independent estimate would be a good thing to have as a negotiating point but I don't know how early in the process I need it. Am I jumping the gun?
I'm also not sure whether or not they will total the car. It's minor damage, but it's to an older car without a whole lot of value, and if it turns out there is hidden mechanical damage they might try and claim it as a loss. If so, I have to go through the whole process of finding a comparable car, and then worry about how this effects things like paying for a rental / loss of use and storage fees at the body shop.
Sorry, I'm new to this and a little green around the ears. Can you help me get straightened out?
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 11:58 am Post Subject:
It sounds as if you have a good understanding of some of the issues to be aware of. Start by giving the other insurance carrier a fixed date to inspect; do it in writing. Be careful with car rentals, oftentimes the length of the rental is deemed unreasonable and you could be stuck with uncompensated charges. Get the estimate from your garage and then see what the cost of repair is in relation to the value of the vehicle. See if you can also get a salvage estimate, which would be the value withou the repairs.
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 02:04 pm Post Subject:
So I'm guessing that the damage is making the car undrivable?
If they have not called you yet, call back and ask if they will want to inspect the damage. If so, ask if they can set this up now and the adjuster can call later. You do need to give them a reasonable amount of time to inspect the vehicle and I'd say a week or so is not unreasonable. However, they should also consider paying you loss of use during that time. But that means if no one calls you, you need to call them back.
An insurance company is not obligated to put you in a rental car. They can pay you "Loss of Use"... which can be based on the expense of a rental car (and it can be the cheapest one out there). If your vehicle is not driveable then the clock starts ticking from the date of the accident.
If the vehicle is not driveable there is little reason to take it in and leave it at a shop unless it's a problem where it is now.
If the vehicle is considered a total loss, the Loss of Use stops when they make an offer.
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