I Need My Car Fixed!

Hi L.,

Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope you are okay.

I have been in the insurance industry for over 15 years and you have a couple of options on how to proceed.

First, you can call your insurance company back and have them handle the damages to your vehicle and then they will turn around and attempt to be reimbursed from the other driver's insurance company. You will have to pay your deductible but if your insurance company collects from the other company, you will get your deductible back. Also, you need to check with your carrier to see if you have rental coverage. If so, your company can provide a rental car. Most insurance companies will pay for a rental car based upon a cost per day for upto 30 days.

If you don't want to use your insurance, call the other driver's company and insist that they process your claim immediately otherwise you will contact the Department of Insurance (DOI) and register a complaint. All insurance companies have internal guidelines as well as state mandated guidelines on how claims are to be handled and resolved. If it has been over two weeks, you definitely need to follow up with the other driver's carrier for status.

Also, they should address any injuries, inconveniences and out of pocket expenses you incurred as a result of the accident. IF you were injured - even if you didn't seek treatment, you are entitled to a minimal settlement - probably less than $1000. They will also require that you sign a release which is okay as long as you have been fairly compensated. Any release for injuries does not affect any settlement on the damage to the car. They are two separate coverages under any insurance policy so don't think that accepting money for pain/soreness etc relieves them of taking care of your car.

Also, it is not the responsibility of your insurance company to contact the other company and present the claim for you - that is your obligation. Your insurance company will be involved only if you choose for them to handle your damages versus the other company. If your insurance company did such a thing and it wasn't what you wanted, they would be in violation of many insurance regulations.

Also, seeking attorney representation isn't always the answer. Many attorneys advertise that they don't get paid if they don't collect. Please know that this isn't always the case. Attorneys will not collect their fee of 29% to 40% of the settlement on any case - however, costs are very different and must be paid on every case. Costs include such things as filing fees, costs for court reporters, cost of ordering medical records, costs of sending out subpoenas etc. Please don't jump the gun and think that getting an attorney will solve everything. It may get the other insurance company's attention but please make sure you read ALL the fine print of the documents the attorney will require you to sign.

From the sounds of your accident, I think you can handle it on your own. Just follow up with the company of the other driver and again, if they don't respond, contact the Department of Insurance. You can access everything online and once a complaint is lodged, it is sent to management of the insurance company and it must be responded to within 14 days to include plans for resolution of the problem.

Good Luck.

L.

1 mom found this helpful

get the police report as soon as possible. cll thier insurance company and tel them if they arent going to fix your car you will have your attorney take care of it. tell them you need a rental and if they dont approve it that day, you will get one on your own and will have them pay. call your insurance too they are supposed to take care of you when something like this happens. tell them you need a rental now, and that they need to help you cause that is what you pay them for,. give them definite deadlines and if neither companies come through, get a lawyer. they dont charge if they dont win so they are going to do their best. also mention thet if you do get a lawyer they will be paying for your time and suffering. in 2000 we had an accident. a lady pulled out in front of us. both our insurances kept stalling but once i got a lawyer things moved fast. i had to get a rental on my own and it was $50 a day but the insurance only covered 36 but my lawyer made them pay it cause they didnt respond fast enough. i had a rental for over a month and then they dicided it wasnt going to get fixed so i had the rental for nother two weeks until i got a new car. i also got all my medical bills pid. i almos tlost my leg and was out of work for 6 months. they paid for my lost wages and got my son and husband some money too because they had a loss too. i had to hire help for me around the house cause i was bedbound so they paid for that too plus the new car because i still owed on the old one they paid for that too. and i got some money for paina nd suffereing. but the other insurance said that the lady only had 30000 in insurance but my hospital bills were over 200000 so thay only wanted to settle for the 300000. anyway, after it was all over and done. i had all my bills paid and came out with 80000 and they had to pay my lawyers fees. it took over 2 years but that is what insurance companies hope that you wll get tired and give up. good luck

What insurance company does the other driver have? I would recommended calling the other person's insurance company to ask them what steps you need to take to get this matter settled. Most insurance companies have repair shops they work directly with and if you take your car to one of their shops they will work directly with them saving you the hassel. Last but not least, make sure your car gets fixed somewhere that you trust or that has some kind of warrenty on the repair work.

Good luck and hang in there.

Hi L.. I have been hit a few times living in this city and the last 2 times I took my car to A&D Autobody. It's on 75th Ave across the street from the roller rink south of Bell. They are really nice people and they helped me about alot. My dad was EXTREMELY happy with their work and he is a total car buff so if he liked them you know they are good. I hope everything turns out ok for you! They also did all the insurance stuff for me :-)

I was in an accident that was not my fault. I was told to only contact the other people insurance company because if you go through your insurance company you have to pay the deductable. If it's totally the other peoples fault just keep contacting the other insurance company and be persistant. Tell them you need it fixed fast. It wasnt your fault so you shouldnt have to be with a messed up car. I think it took a couple of weeks to a month maybe (it was a few years ago) to actually get everything settled. Just hang in there and be persistant. Keep calling the other peoples insurance until you get a time frame of when your car will be fixed! If your car is undrivable you need to demand a rental car.

Good luck!! Sorry for your misfortune...

Have you contacted your insurance agent about this? I have been in 2 accidents and neither were my fault. The first one, my car was totalled but the 2nd one the car needed fixed and my agent was a huge help to me! I was getting no where with the other company and so my agent handled everything.

So sorry to hear about your troubles!! I hope things get better soon!

I had an accident while in college where someone rearended me and the guy behind me. My insurance company didn't do anything to help. I had to call the insurance company of the guy who hit me and tell them to get on the ball. If you have the information for the insurance of the person who hit you, you should probably call and ask what they plan to do to get your car fixed or what you need to do to get your car fixed so they will pay. Good luck. Insurance and accidents are not fun.

L.,

I have been in an accident almost identical to yours just this past November. I guess my first question would be if the other car had insurance? Then, also, if you got their insurance information? It sounds as if you did, since you gave it all to your insuarnce company. You can and should call the other person's insurance company and make a claim. Then you insist that they get your car in for an estimate as soon as possible. Dependent on your insurance and the other person's there might be a rental you could use. How much, if any, that you pay for it though will depend on the type of insurances that are involved.

If you get no cooperation, or if there is no insurance involved, you may have to either A) hound your insurance company or B) get a lawyer.

Good luck!

Hugs,
Kat

Oh Boy! I work in the auto business and this happens all the time. Insurance companies make their money by holding on to yours for as long as possible. Here's the deal, your company is going to say the claim is the other comapany's responsibility. At the very least, they need to get you the contact info to expedite your claim.

Do you have the other company's info and policy number?

If you get no where in a matter of 2-3 days.... drop me a line.

Kurt

I have worked in the personal injury field for a long time and I can tell you that the insurance companies will always make it seem like they are going to help you and do what's best for you, but you have remember that it is a business and the bottom line is where their interests lie. I would suggest consulting an attorney, especially if you are having any physical pain/symptoms. A personal injury attorney can help with the property damage portion as well, if you choose. I work with some very experienced personal injury attorneys, if you would like to talk to one of them, give me a call at ###-###-#### next week -- ask for N.. If you know someone else who's dealt with this before and can recommend someone else, that is great too -- I just really don't recommend going it alone! Good luck!

You should still try to get a response from the other driver's insurance company. Maybe they need some time to file the paperwork. I almost went through a divorce last year and now our marriage is stronger than ever. You should try counseling and remember than men are like puppies, you need to train them on what to do and praise them all the time. Now I keep my husband on a leash and he does not even realize I'm doing it but he does everything I tell him to do. I do hope your marriage can be fixed especially because you have a little girl that was brought into this world by love.

First off, if the accident wasn't your fault and they had good insurance, there is no need to tell your insurance unless the insurance is rejecting your claim. I had a brand new car and the actual day I was scheduled to deliver, I was at the doctors office and someone rear ended me. I actually called the insurance company on the way to the hospital. They called me a few days later when I was in the hospital still, they said that they had to contact the other people. So a few weeks went by and still nothing. I didn't really care because I had just had a baby. I called them after about three weeks. The company said that they had the wrong number for their client and had to wait for a respond by mail. Well another few weeks went by and I had to call again. They never got a hold of the other person to conform the accident but they sent someone out to my house anyways. Since my car was brand new, they didn't use the dealership as their approved mechanic so they gave me a check so I could get it fixed myself. I had a estimate, and they gave me more then it estimated. Anyways hope this helps, insurance companies take their time.

I am in the same situation. I just got in a car accident myself with my 1 year old daughter. It was the other guys fault. He rearended me also. My advice to you is to get in contact with the other insurance company. Make sure that a claim has been filed with them. Then they will be in contact with you to get everything situated. Your insurance company really doesn't have anything to do with it. Especially if it's not your fault. But make sure you keep on the other insurance cause the more you do the faster it will go. Plus the other insurance has to actually go out and do their own estimate and then they will start! I wish you the best of luck. I know exactly what you are going through. Any questions just ask cause I'm doing the same thing right now.

J.

Hi L.,
You'll probably need to call your insurance company and ask them what the next step is. Stay on top of them. Sometimes they will procrastinate, and it's more frustrating when they do. The other insurance company will not be as quick to get the ball rolling because they will try and get out of paying. It's sad, but true. Try getting a hold of your insurance company and ask them to help you out with that. I hope they will. Sounds like you got enough on your shoulders right now. I hope everything works out for you. Best wishes,G.

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