by Guest » Tue Dec 04, 2012 06:59 pm
I was in a head on accident Oct. 26th on my way to work. I broke my left wrist and hand and have some other minor injuries that are still an issue. I was not at fault for the accident. My car was towed to a local tow yard while I was being rushed to the hospital. I contacted the other drivers company Nov. 5th personally after finally receiving the police report so I knew what company the other driver had. I have phone records and emails from when I notified the company. The adjuster did not contact me until Nov 14. They said it was the first time they heard of my claim. My lawyer has sent a letter to the insurance company in regards to the bad faith and their delay in going to adjust the car. Am I responsible for the lack of response from the insurance company? Their policy holders car was next to mine in the tow yard and hers was adjusted immediately. They told me their driver only had a $5000 amount for property and out of that would come the storage and towing, so regardless of what my car is worth I will be receiving less then 4000. I'm at a catch 22 and backed into a corner because the insurance says it my fault for not moving the car (had they told me on the 5th the car needed to be moved I would have), the tow yard wont let the adjuster see the car until the balance is paid and I am left disabled and unable to work and my hole of debt is getting deeper and deeper daily. Any advice? I have already contacted the NJ DOBI and they are opening an investigation.
Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 01:22 am Post Subject:
The adjuster did not contact me until Nov 14. They said it was the first time they heard of my claim.
Their policy holders car was next to mine in the tow yard and hers was adjusted immediately
This does not make sense. Has someone asked them how they could not know about the claim yet they inspected their insured's vehicle? If the adjuster contacted you then who reported your information to them?My lawyer has sent a letter to the insurance company in regards to the bad faith and their delay in going to adjust the car.
Almost no states allow 3rd party Bad Faith claims. Also, if you have an attorney handling this matter (i.e. you are paying this attorney to handle this for you) why don't you find out the details from him/her?Am I responsible for the lack of response from the insurance company?
As long as only you get to argue your side of the case, it should be very clear. This usually does not happen. Usually their were two sides to the issue. Ultimately you are the owner of the vehicle and it's your requirement to mitigate your loss.I'm at a catch 22 and backed into a corner because the insurance says it my fault for not moving the car
As far as they are concerned, yes. You can feel free to reject their payment and file suit against their insured and argue your case. You will probably loose due to what I said before... you have a duty to mitigate your loss. The tow company was charging _you_ storage fees. As such, you needed to move the vehicle to a storage free location asap. If you reported the loss on 10/26 why did you wait 3 weeks before even calling the other carrier?the tow yard wont let the adjuster see the car until the balance is paid
I'd file a complaint with who ever regulates the towing company. Someone should be able to look at the car... just not move it. If you _really_ want to light a fire under their butts, call the police and tell them you have a right to remove your personal property from the vehicle and the tow company won't let you. Ask them to meet you at the tow company. Have the adjuster go along and inspect the vehicle while you are "removing" your property. I'm betting that the tow company simply allows the inspection of the vehicle if the police are there. I think there are other ways to resolve this issue and this is extreme but it would work if needed.Any advice?
Yes.... SPEAK TO YOUR ATTORNEY! You are paying him/her a lot of money to handle this issue. They may not want to become involved in the property damage as are only taking 33% of your injury settlement but they should at least do a little work toward your property damage claim.Bottom line... the other carrier _will not pay more then $5,000 on your property damage claim_. Read that again. If the vehicle is worth about that or more then towing is moot point. Read the first sentence again. The state allows people to drive with just $5,000 in property damage coverage. The state is just being stupid in this regard. This is why people carry collision coverage on their own vehicles... in order to protect their own interest. It appears you did not do this so you need to deal with this as a liability claim. Again, you can feel free to not accept any money from the other person's carrier and file suit against the driver. You will then need to prove your case and that you are owed more then $5,000. The other person's carrier may hire an attorney to defend their insured. If you get a judgement for an amount above $5,000 you can then collect $5,000 from the other person's carrier and can feel free to them legally pursue the other person for whatever you can get (I'll let you know how much this will be.... $0. Most likely they have nothing for you to take).
I am left disabled and unable to work and my hole of debt is getting deeper and deeper daily.
Your PIP should be paying up to $15,000 in benefits. When it's all said and done, you attorney should be able to collect from the other carrier for your injury. You _might_ even get a buck or two in your own pocket. If the other person has minimum property damage limits then they probably only have $15,000 in Bodily Injury coverage. How much are your medical expenses going to be? Even with a maximum injury payment from the other carrier, there is only going to be $9,900 available to address any remaining medical expenses, loss wages and whatever is left can go into your pocket. Granted, your own PIP should be able to address most (all?) of your medical expenses.Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 02:36 am Post Subject:
Dont forget about seeking coverage from your own carrier for the property damages. Just because the offending vehicle has $5k limits doesnt mean that your policy wouldnt also provide coverage (assuming you have collision or comprehensive coverage)
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