Car Accident? Ask an Adjuster

Cutlery_sl said:

I guess I'm confused. $500, or drive around in a dented up piece of shit with a mirror hanging off the side, and you chose driving around in a dented up piece of shit with a mirror hanging off the side? Isn't that what you carry comprehensive for?

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Car wasn't really worth it. 180k miles and a piece of shit, didn't want to spend $500. I spent $15 and bought a new mirror and installed myself.

How fucking big was the deer? Sure it wasn't a moose or elk or something?

Eomer_sl said:

How fucking big was the deer? Sure it wasn't a moose or elk or something?

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Well.. I was absolutely hammered, I mean almost to the point of blackout shit-my-pants drunk so my girlfriend was driving. She's listed as a driver under my car and has her own insurance.. more importantly was sober. It was pitch black, no street lights. All of a sudden it felt like a boulder fell off a mountain and rolled into the side of my car. It knocked the car into another lane and sobered me up instantly. I didn't really see the guy, except a large shadow of a deer running off into the woods. For all I know it could have been a grizzly bear.

Only reason I ask is that most deer are only a couple hundred pounds, and it would take a pretty big animal to do the damage you describe merely from it's own speed perpendicular to your car's movement, not to mention prancing away immediately after.

Noodleface_sl said:

I live in MA.

If I was driving down the street at 2AM and a deer ran into the side of my car, was there anything I could have or should have done? It got up and ran away btw. It ruined all the side panels on my car and took out my mirror.

A lot of people claim I could have invoked that it was an act of God, but I guess in certain parts of MA you cannot do that with deer. Basically it came down to paying $500 in deductibles to fix everything, or just take it and leave it. I took it and left it.

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Just for reference, I'm an insurance agent licensed in Missouri and kansas.

There is no "act of god" clause or anything of that sort. Every possible type of damage to your car either falls under comprehensive or collision, and none of it waives/excuses your deductible. The only way to ever get your car fixed without being out your deductible is to file the claim against another parties insurance if someone else is at fault. If you use your own insurance, you are paying your deductible. The only exception I know is some glass-only claims, some companies offer no deductible by default on window/windshield damage, if that is all that got damaged.

You're actually almost always better off hitting that deer/animal, than trying to swerve and miss it. You put your car in a ditch, hit a guard rail, or hit any stationary object and you have to file a collision claim which is considered an at-fault, chargeable accident by almost every insurance company on Earth. You hit an animal and it's a comprehensive claim(similar to storm damage or vandalism) and it doesn't count against you.

Natural reaction is to swerve to try to miss something that jumps out in front of you, but do not do it.

But just to reiterate, I've never seen an insurance policy that ever specifically mentioned "acts of god" as a covered peril. Maybe it was something that was common 50 years ago, but not anymore. Policies spell out specific perils(things that cause damage) that are covered, and that is what your policy covers. I'm sure "act of god", if it was ever used, is just way too general and vague, it would cause all sorts of problems, lawsuits, etc. since god is something that could be interpreted in a ton of different ways. Insurance companies like dealing in absolutes, they want to be as specific as possible.

Hatorade_sl said:

Joeboo beat me too it and spot on, especially the part about better to hit the deer then try and swerve.

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Yeah I knew that part. Thing was we were travelling at 40mph and the deer ran into the side of my car. Was pretty unbelievable.

I'm under the impression the insurance was willing to pay, minus the $500 deductible, and he chose to do nothing since he didn't even want to pay the deductible out of pocket to have it fixed(wasn't worth $500 to him)

That being said, as long as you own your car outright(no lien holder) you could have just taken the insurance check for the damages -$500 and pocketed it. Perfectly acceptable thing to do. Consider it payment now for money you aren't going to get out of it when you sell it later, or file your next claim for damages.

joeboo_sl said:

That being said, as long as you own your car outright(no lien holder) you could have just taken the insurance check for the damages -$500 and pocketed it. Perfectly acceptable thing to do. Consider it payment now for money you aren't going to get out of it when you sell it later, or file your next claim for damages.

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That's what I should have done, guess at the time I really wasn't thinking about that. Too late now!

How long ago was it? My company pays non-depreciated claims as long as it is within 1 year of the incident date.

Here in OR, hitting a live animal is Comprehensive but if you were to hit a dead animal on the road already it would be collision. That's how I saw 3 claims play out anyway.

Hatorade_sl said:

Your comprehensive has a deductible? Time to get a new insurance company.

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???

He's almost 100% guaranteed able to get no (or lower) deductible, but it will cost more.

Yup, gotta find that sweet spot of deductible vs premium. I carry $250 deductibles. Just going down to $100 was like an extra $100 premium per year, and since i have a claim on average of maybe once every 5 years since i started driving, I'd rather save more money with the lower monthly premium. I wouldn't come out ahead with the low deductible unless i had a claim every year and a half.

Blindly taking the highest deductible or the lowest/no deductible option without doing allthe math would be foolish