Insurance Claim PITA - Rant

I got bumped into 4 weeks ago today buy a guy in a parking lot. All seemed to be well, got turned his the insurance company within a couple of days, etc. Here I am 4 weeks later, car still not in the shop, and it is on hold because his insurance company (Safeco) has not yet gotten in touch with him......which brings me to my rant. I have an accident report from the SC Highway Patrol. The LEO that wrote it up determined the fault. Why in the world do they need to talk to him? Fault is not up for debate. To top it off, every time I send an email, leave a phone message, etc, I get no response from the adjuster. If I then call relentlessly until I actually catch her, she just gets pissy and basically says, "I'll call you when I know more." I can even understand to a point that they deserve a chance to talk to their insured, but come on, is there not a brief window of time for him to respond.

I know that I can turn to my insurance company to fight it out with his, however just the principal of it all has kept me from doing that. They should not have to incur the cost of doing all of that.

State insurance and fault laws can be weird. I know nothing about SC moving violation laws but i recommend you figure out if the SC state code is online somewhere that you can read it, and then when you can read it figure out if you can just get your car fixed and send them a bill. They may be stalling and waiting that you will go away.

TimpanogosSlim said:

State insurance and fault laws can be weird. I know nothing about SC moving violation laws but i recommend you figure out if the SC state code is online somewhere that you can read it, and then when you can read it figure out if you can just get your car fixed and send them a bill. They may be stalling and waiting that you will go away.

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Sadly SC makes you put forth a reasonable attempt first, however nobody seems to be willing to define what is reasonable in terms of time frame. I'm on the verge of cutting State Farm loose on them, had to do the same with an incident my wife was in last year, and got great results. Like I say, I am trying to work with them, even willing to drive my truck while it is in the shop (more convenient than dealing with a rental), but damn, get on with it.

My whole thing, when it comes to an insurance claim, I should have to put forth zero, or little effort, to make things right if I am not at fault. If it was my fault, I would expect to deal with a little bit of work, but in the case of it not being my fault, they should go out of their way to make things right for me.

I hear you.

When i got hit backing out of my driveway in my jetta, American National got me a rental car and ultimately gave me a reasonably fair cash value for the totaled car, which served as down payment on my GTI. And my rates did go up for the plan i was on, but my agent found me a similar plan with rates similar to what I'd had before the accident - even though state law says that i am at fault if someone hits me while i am backing out of my drive way.

Just sayin.

OTOH they are shifforbrains when it comes to actually informing your mortgage servicer that your house is fully insured. I got so effing tired of calling them and telling them to fax over proof of insurance. WTF.

autobaun70 said:

Sadly SC makes you put forth a reasonable attempt first, however nobody seems to be willing to define what is reasonable in terms of time frame. I'm on the verge of cutting State Farm loose on them, had to do the same with an incident my wife was in last year, and got great results. Like I say, I am trying to work with them, even willing to drive my truck while it is in the shop (more convenient than dealing with a rental), but damn, get on with it.

My whole thing, when it comes to an insurance claim, I should have to put forth zero, or little effort, to make things right if I am not at fault. If it was my fault, I would expect to deal with a little bit of work, but in the case of it not being my fault, they should go out of their way to make things right for me.

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Maybe a return-receipt USPS letter would count as reasonable effort. By signing for the mail, they acknowledge they received your request.

Hopefully you're keeping notes on when you called and who you spoke with. What is happening is the other guy is avoiding his insurance company as he figures if he doesn't respond they'll be no claim to go against his record and rates. If you've called more than 5 times and several weeks have gone by, file a complaint with the insurance commissioner's office. That at least will get them moving on your claim as they will have to explain why after several weeks and 5 or 6 calls, they still have not been able to contact the other guy. They've also had time during this wait to send a letter to this guy.

You should be able to get a free rental car out of the deal paid for by his insurance.

Give them one more try, ask the adjuster if they realize the other guy is dodging them by not returning their calls. They know that's what's going on, they just don't think you know it.

I had similar situation 2 years ago and i wasnt able to resolve it to my favor, basically guy who rear ended me couldn't be reached by phone or mail by his insurance and there was nothing i could do, i filled the complain with state insurance office but it didnt help, i could file the case in small claim court against the driver but i gave it up

You pay for insurance...let them take care of it. More specifically, you have state farm. I don't know about your area, but state farm is more expensive than the other companies around me and its for a reason. I've had two accidents and state farm takes care of you first and then goes after the other party. I have never had to do a thing but answer state farms calls and give them info.

Why would you be hesitant to let your insurance earn that premium every month?

Call their 1-800 number and ask to speak to someone that can take care of your issue today. Ask to speak to the adjusters boss.
Keep elevating the issue until you get results. Keep calling to you get someone to take action.
Don't hesitate to let them know that you are upset and will contact the state AG if necessary.
Every local news has a "troubleshooters" segment, state that you will be calling them if you do not get results.
Keep track of the names and departments of everyone that you talk to along the way.

I had similar issues with a Farmers adjuster. Got the adjusters boss phone# and put him on speed dial. After 3o days of futzing with an adjuster that didn't want to get off her ass, I had the issue resolved in 24 hours after calling her boss repeatedly.

Be firm, be angry, and demand results today.
+1 on calling your insurance company and informing them of what has happened so far - maybe they can help expedite.

My wife and I got "T-boned" by a car while riding our motorcycle. We were both hospitalized for five days and the bike...1984 Honda Gold Wing...was totaled. Car driver "didn't see" us behind a box truck, pulled out from a stop sign and smacked us. He had a low-ball policy from GEICO...we used up the entire amount of insurance on just our medical bills...which didn't get paid for almost eight weeks. I finally got frustrated and called my insurance company, which helped pry loose the needed funds. Since I carried uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, MY insurance company paid for pain and suffering, and other incidentals. Because of my experience with the GEICO claim adjuster, I will NEVER have GEICO insurance.

glenn514

Like others have said, you pay for your insurance so let them take care of the situation. It's their job that you pay them for. Plus they're the professionals.

If you have state farm then have them go after the other insurance.
My wifes 1 month old car was hit by an employee and they verbally agreed to get it fixed but she dragged her feet for over a month with all kinds of excuses. I got fed up and took the co workers information to out state farm rep and he opened a claim that day and my wifes car got fixed a week later in its worth it to let the insurance people work it out.

autobaun70 said:

Sadly SC makes you put forth a reasonable attempt first, however nobody seems to be willing to define what is reasonable in terms of time frame. I'm on the verge of cutting State Farm loose on them, had to do the same with an incident my wife was in last year, and got great results. Like I say, I am trying to work with them, even willing to drive my truck while it is in the shop (more convenient than dealing with a rental), but damn, get on with it.

My whole thing, when it comes to an insurance claim, I should have to put forth zero, or little effort, to make things right if I am not at fault. If it was my fault, I would expect to deal with a little bit of work, but in the case of it not being my fault, they should go out of their way to make things right for me.

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get a rental!!!!! they'll move quickly if they're paying by the day.

Made some serious headway today. I found the guy that hit me's phone # and sent him a text. He responded immediately.

They claim to have had a different # for him, which was an old phone #. Sadly they didnt pay a bit if attention to the accident report because his working # was on there. Supposedly the check is in the mail.

I tried to run it through my insurance, however I would have been on the hook for the deductible until it was resolved.