by Guest » Thu Nov 14, 2013 03:23 am
Hello everyone,
Last week I got rear-ended at a red light and then hit the car in front of me. The other person was 100% at fault, my insurance declared the car totaled and now I am going through the painful process of dealing with the low-balling.
I just received an estimate from the insurance company where they listed 3 cars as comps, 2 of them were valued at about 6K while the third, conveniently, was valued at 4K, 75 miles away but not in-state. This last car is from New Jersey which has very different requirements for inspections/safety than Philadelphia which is where I live. It of course pissed me off to see that, clearly done to bring down the valuation.
I asked the adjuster to take it out and his answer was "it came up with the report" being in a 75 mile radius. We got disconnected without reaching an agreement so before I call again/put it in writing I wanted to get some more opinions.
Is there anything in the insurance code to make them remove the 3rd car and just base their valuation on the other 2 cars? What is the best way to go about this? FYI: Jersey doesn't require any safety inspection and emissions every 2 years. Pennsylvania on the other hand requires yearly safety and emissions. So technically a car drivable in Jersey might not cut it here.
Many thanks!
Last week I got rear-ended at a red light and then hit the car in front of me. The other person was 100% at fault, my insurance declared the car totaled and now I am going through the painful process of dealing with the low-balling.
I just received an estimate from the insurance company where they listed 3 cars as comps, 2 of them were valued at about 6K while the third, conveniently, was valued at 4K, 75 miles away but not in-state. This last car is from New Jersey which has very different requirements for inspections/safety than Philadelphia which is where I live. It of course pissed me off to see that, clearly done to bring down the valuation.
I asked the adjuster to take it out and his answer was "it came up with the report" being in a 75 mile radius. We got disconnected without reaching an agreement so before I call again/put it in writing I wanted to get some more opinions.
Is there anything in the insurance code to make them remove the 3rd car and just base their valuation on the other 2 cars? What is the best way to go about this? FYI: Jersey doesn't require any safety inspection and emissions every 2 years. Pennsylvania on the other hand requires yearly safety and emissions. So technically a car drivable in Jersey might not cut it here.
Many thanks!
Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 02:34 pm Post Subject:
So here is an update.
We responded to our insurance's low balling offer and they seem to not be taking it seriously, just dragging their feet and being cheap. At this point I am wondering if I can not bother with my insurance and file a claim with the other party's insurance. So far the only thing that my insurance has done is provide a rental for us and also cover the initial doctor visit.
Can I send a claim to the other insurance at this point?
Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 03:55 pm Post Subject:
Can I send a claim to the other insurance at this point?
You are digging a crater around yourself. You cannot play one insurance company against another like this. So let this be a learning experience -- and learn from it.Your claims should all have been filed with the at-fault party's insurance company from the first day. You chose not do that. This is a common mistake made when people misunderstand how their insurance works. Your insurance is designed to pay for the damages you cause to others and their property (liability) and the damage you do to yourself [or through no fault of others] (casualty). Your insurance is not for the damages others do to you (at least not in the other-than-pure no-fault-states) -- with the exception of uninsured motorist coverages.
So either accept your insurance company's offer, continue to fight for more, or hire a public adjuster to attempt to do better for you (there are plenty of them and they get about 10% of your recovery as a fee), if you don't believe you are able to do any better for yourself.
You really cannot have both a first-party and a third-party claim for the same loss simultaneously.
So settle this matter with your own insurance company. Especially because you have no idea what the limit of liability in the other party's insurance is, and as tcope told you, when you settle with the other party's insurance company, you waive all rights to additional claims against their insured.
After you settle with your insurance company, you sue the at-fault party for (A) 100 percent of all losses, or (B) any unpaid balance of all your expenses/losses. Under premise (A), however, there will be an "offset" granted to the at-fault party for all insurance company money you received from your insurer -- if the court didn't grant the offset, you would owe that money back to your insurer (subrogation) -- because YOU cannot collect twice for the same loss.
The choice of (A) or (B) is up to you. Ultimately, your pocket will not be filled with more than what (B) would provide. As I previously stated, if you win and the at-fault party still has insurance capacity remaining, the insurance company will pay up to that amount. Anything left unpaid must be paid by the party you have the judgment against.
Next time, you'll know to start with the other person's insurance company first. If they aren't going to cover your loss in full, you drop the claim and sue the at-fault party.
Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 06:24 pm Post Subject:
You are digging a crater around yourself. You cannot play one insurance company against another like this. So let this be a learning experience -- and learn from it.
It has certainly been a learning experience. Having to claim losses from the other insurance goes against everything one is told to do/knows about accidents. Even police tell you to call your insurance company and report the accident so I did right when it happened. By the time I discovered I could claim losses from other insurance, it was too late.
I'll continue to fight and see what more I can do with this claim then.
Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 09:04 pm Post Subject:
Even police tell you to call your insurance company and report the accident
Certainly, your insurance policy requires you to do that also. But that doesn't mean the same thing as opening a claim. If the other party is at fault, you simply tell your insurance company, "I will be filing my claim with the other insurance company."If the collision is your fault, then you absolutely must inform your insurance company. Still doesn't mean you have to open a claim.
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