What to do after an accident? Beyond car repair...

Hatorade

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New car/12K repair and they aren't doing the diminished value on their own when you brought it up? That is a red flag.

They did the repairs, they have all the documentation they need. All they have to do is very similar to a total loss claim, I would call the adjuster and ask for manager and see what they say. This reeks of adjuster just doesn't want to do the work.

If manager gives you a hard time tell them fine, I will do your job and I will expect compensation for my time when final payout is due. This will put them against you but who cares at that point they already adding unnecessary steps/stress to a already really stressful process. Many adjusters forget that often because they are numb to everything.

What a lawyer will do is something you can do, you find as many examples as you can for your same vehicle in lets say a 300 mile radius(you may need to expand that area depending on available stock). As close to same mileage/condition you can, just get as many examples as you can. Than compare prices of those never in an accident to those that have been, get the difference in price of all those examples and then average them. That will be what you should get.
 
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Siliconemelons

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They must have just paid their yearly ad budget out or something and are out of money... they are being pains in the ass... to not even reply with "your estimation sucks, we estimate X$" and open a discussion or dialog, something.
 

Cad

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They must have just paid their yearly ad budget out or something and are out of money... they are being pains in the ass... to not even reply with "your estimation sucks, we estimate X$" and open a discussion or dialog, something.

They're just following a playbook to get you to stop pursuing it. Keep pushing it, threaten to file suit, etc. I wouldn't hire a lawyer for this because you don't need it and they'll take a % of your payout. Just go file small claims yourself and have fun with it.
 
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Hatorade

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They're just following a playbook to get you to stop pursuing it. Keep pushing it, threaten to file suit, etc. I wouldn't hire a lawyer for this because you don't need it and they'll take a % of your payout. Just go file small claims yourself and have fun with it.

Good call, but likely won't even need to take it to small claims court if pursued.

What is the make/model/mileage and extras like heated seats etc of your car and your zipcode, I can get you that value fairly quickly. Can PM if you want.
 

agripa

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My sister was rear ended by an ambulance and got 100k from it. They did fuck her back up, it is worth talking to a good lawyer and settle out of court.
 
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a_skeleton_06

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I'm just finishing up a fucking hassle dealing with an accident. The story -

I'm out picking up take-out in early July hoping to get home in time for GoT. I have 2 beers at the sandwich place while I wait for our food and drive the mile back to my house. I'm 99% sober. About 50 yards from my place, a woman just drives out from an alley and hits me diagonally in the front passenger bumper and pushes me into the parked truck on the other side of the street. In my head, I'm like fuck me, a cop is going to show up and I'm going to blow .00001% over the limit, Good Times. I get out of my car to check on the driver who's already out of her car and a small crowd is gathering around her because her face was scratched from her deployed airbag. Cops come and chat and end up filling out a report and talking to us and tell her she's basically lucky I'm not freaking out and talking about suing her, etc. In my head, I'm just happy that I'm okay and they don't want to put me in handcuffs. Police report filed, she's at fault. Should be no big deal.

Her insurance company (Progressive (Go fuck yourself)) says they need to investigate and will get back to me about towing my car that I managed to get home and get it checked out. Could take a few business days...also, until they accept fault they will not pick up a rental car. So it's Monday morning and I take off work to try and get this shit handled. Nothing from them. Tuesday I take an Uber to work and basically spend the whole day fighting with them. I finally acquiesce and get a rental car out of pocket because the chick tells me that I will be reimbursed when they accept liability. Few days later they call and that the scope of the accident exceeds their limits or some shit and I need to go through my insurance and they will get reimbursed. At this point, I had already spoken with my rep there and they mentioned how this might occur. I say fuck it, I'm already pissed off and have them start the repairs.

These come out to 16k on my Mercedes. It's been 5 weeks and I just got my car back from the shop and am sitting on a 1500 rental bill that I have to submit for a piece of shit Hyundai that I drove around in lieu of a comparable car. In the mean time, I had to visit the Dr for an unrelated stomach issue / back problem they couldn't diagnose. I'm not sure this is in any way related but the cumulation of all this bullshit makes me want to lump it in. The lesson I learned here was Fuck. Them. I went from "Hey, we're okay so fuck the cars" to wanting to summon a meteor to hit their HQ and smack the chick who started this with a bag of hammers.

I'm going to file a diminished value on the car that I'm expecting to drag out forever and wondering if I should do the same thing and just file some sort of small claims thing. IDK. So much bullshit because an insurance company won't just "do the right thing".

Fucking accidents, man.
 
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Siliconemelons

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@a_skeleton_06 - damn I feel ya... it sucks that the insurance co's really do not want to do what they should. After years of them getting blasted for it, they seem to be wanting to turn a page and whatnot- but I guess that is all bullshit marketing. lol

They're just following a playbook to get you to stop pursuing it. Keep pushing it, threaten to file suit, etc. I wouldn't hire a lawyer for this because you don't need it and they'll take a % of your payout. Just go file small claims yourself and have fun with it.

LOL - I would have fun with it, my wife would not. I am going to get an estimate from the site you mentioned - I should finish the "free" report today and talk to them soon.

Good call, but likely won't even need to take it to small claims court if pursued.

What is the make/model/mileage and extras like heated seats etc of your car and your zipcode, I can get you that value fairly quickly. Can PM if you want.

We purchased it, a 2016 Certified Preowned Infiniti QX60 on 6/19/17 its loaded - everything but AWD, pano roof, heated/cooled seats, upgraded leather, nav - 360 cam, rear DVD, all the safety mitigation suite (late departure warning and mitigation, forward etc. etc. - the thing has no fake buttons or places blank for buttons but the awd button ;-) lol )

The crash was on 6/22/17... that's what makes this even more annoying as its quite obvious it has diminished value.

12k damage repair includes some frame damage- new lift gate, new rear bumper and innards and sensors, new muffler, frame straightening, alignment, paint and body work. rear seat (3rd row) rails replaced, spare tire well replaced- new rear tail lights on the right outer and inner. etc.
 
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Hatorade

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Frame damage? I don't know much about cars but 99% of the time a car has come back with frame damage it is totaled. You sure it was frame damage? Get that confirmed.
 

Siliconemelons

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Well, the unibody was bent - I suppose we do not have "frames" on this type of car as its a crossover not a "body on frame" SUV -

pics size
right body

upload_2017-8-23_16-28-10.png


right lower

upload_2017-8-23_16-28-27.png

So the damage proceeded through the outer bumper protector, the bumper proper and surrounding mitigation styrofoam into the unibody (frame) - the impact was rear, but more on the right than center or left.
 

Unidin

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I'm just finishing up a fucking hassle dealing with an accident. The story -

I'm out picking up take-out in early July hoping to get home in time for GoT. I have 2 beers at the sandwich place while I wait for our food and drive the mile back to my house. I'm 99% sober. About 50 yards from my place, a woman just drives out from an alley and hits me diagonally in the front passenger bumper and pushes me into the parked truck on the other side of the street. In my head, I'm like fuck me, a cop is going to show up and I'm going to blow .00001% over the limit, Good Times. I get out of my car to check on the driver who's already out of her car and a small crowd is gathering around her because her face was scratched from her deployed airbag. Cops come and chat and end up filling out a report and talking to us and tell her she's basically lucky I'm not freaking out and talking about suing her, etc. In my head, I'm just happy that I'm okay and they don't want to put me in handcuffs. Police report filed, she's at fault. Should be no big deal.

Her insurance company (Progressive (Go fuck yourself)) says they need to investigate and will get back to me about towing my car that I managed to get home and get it checked out. Could take a few business days...also, until they accept fault they will not pick up a rental car. So it's Monday morning and I take off work to try and get this shit handled. Nothing from them. Tuesday I take an Uber to work and basically spend the whole day fighting with them. I finally acquiesce and get a rental car out of pocket because the chick tells me that I will be reimbursed when they accept liability. Few days later they call and that the scope of the accident exceeds their limits or some shit and I need to go through my insurance and they will get reimbursed. At this point, I had already spoken with my rep there and they mentioned how this might occur. I say fuck it, I'm already pissed off and have them start the repairs.

These come out to 16k on my Mercedes. It's been 5 weeks and I just got my car back from the shop and am sitting on a 1500 rental bill that I have to submit for a piece of shit Hyundai that I drove around in lieu of a comparable car. In the mean time, I had to visit the Dr for an unrelated stomach issue / back problem they couldn't diagnose. I'm not sure this is in any way related but the cumulation of all this bullshit makes me want to lump it in. The lesson I learned here was Fuck. Them. I went from "Hey, we're okay so fuck the cars" to wanting to summon a meteor to hit their HQ and smack the chick who started this with a bag of hammers.

I'm going to file a diminished value on the car that I'm expecting to drag out forever and wondering if I should do the same thing and just file some sort of small claims thing. IDK. So much bullshit because an insurance company won't just "do the right thing".

Fucking accidents, man.


I can't ever stress this enough. Never, ever, ever go directly through the other person's insurance company. Just file the claim through your own and let them deal with the bullshit from the other insurance company. It's part of why you pay for insurance, so you don't have to fight yourself.
 

Hatorade

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I can't ever stress this enough. Never, ever, ever go directly through the other person's insurance company. Just file the claim through your own and let them deal with the bullshit from the other insurance company. It's part of why you pay for insurance, so you don't have to fight yourself.

That isn't how it works.
 

Unidin

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That's exactly how it works. You file with your own insurance company, then they go after the other one.

What To Do After a Car Accident That's Not Your Fault - FindLaw
After a Car Accident: What to Do When You Get Home

Assuming you haven't sustained serious injuries, you'll want to take care of some additional steps after you get home (or the next morning, but as soon as possible). If you have injuries from the accident, be sure to keep detailed (and ongoing) notes. In a best-case scenario, the other driver will report the accident to his or her insurer and the insurance company will write you a check for your automobile damage and any medical expenses incurred.

Contact Your Own Insurance Company

Car accidents often happen in the blink of an eye, which means you might not have a full picture of the events that led up to the collision. And yes, perhaps you were at fault, if only partially. Also, there may be instances where the other motorist's insurance company denies responsibility. In either case, your own insurance company will need to know, either to launch a legal challenge against the other insurer or to process a collision claim for your vehicle. And by proactively contacting your insurance company, regardless of fault, you establish a good-faith effort at reporting the accident.

Progressive Auto Insurance - An Introduction
According to your auto policy, it's your duty to report all claims to your insurance company, regardless of fault. People often think that they're not required to report a claim to their own insurance company if they're not at fault for the claim. However, this is incorrect. When you purchase an insurance policy, make sure you read the section addressing your duties in a claim to understand what circumstances call for you to report a claim.

So, if you're involved in an accident, each person should report the claim to his own insurance company. If the accident isn't your fault and another company is willing to cover your damage, you can choose to use that company instead of your own, and it should be fairly easy for your own company to close your claim.

What many people don't know is this: You can report a claim to another person's insurance company. If someone rear-ends you, you don't have to wait for that person to report the claim to his company. If you exchanged insurance information, you can report the claim to the other person's company. If he's already reported it, they can provide you with the proper claim information. If he hasn't already reported the claim, you just have.

Often, people wait to hear from another person's insurance company if they think the other driver is at fault. Days pass, and no contact is received. Most likely, that's because the other driver hasn't reported the claim, but you don't have to wait for the other person to report the claim — you're free to call the company yourself.

You can also report to the other insurance company, but you are required to report to yours.
 

Hatorade

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Yes you report it to your own insurance company but if they aren't responsible to pay anything with varies by state they don't do shit.

This stuff was my living for almost a decade, so I'm not talking out my ass.
 
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Siliconemelons

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When talking to my insurance - mostly about - will you raise my cost- they said "we are not allowed to raise your premiums 'because' of the accident..". Later "well if we mediate stuff for you, you know.. You are using our resources and computers and time..so umm there may be a premium increase for that..."

This is what they told me...


It's like wtf am I paying for...
 

Hatorade

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When talking to my insurance - mostly about - will you raise my cost- they said "we are not allowed to raise your premiums 'because' of the accident..". Later "well if we mediate stuff for you, you know.. You are using our resources and computers and time..so umm there may be a premium increase for that..."

This is what they told me...


It's like wtf am I paying for...

Accidents you do not cause typically don't raise rates, it goes to under writing after certain conditions are met or the adjuster pushes it through for reasons like a relative not on the policy is using the vehicle all the time.

Talk to your agent that sold you the policy he/she will know more. Not even sure why the claims adjuster would say something like that, the have zero say in the matter.
 

Lanx

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Wife got rear ended a month ago, of course guy was entirely at fault, he was even cited by the cop for following too close. called our insurance first, we have to pay the deductable to get things rolling, actually we both haven't ever gotten into an accident, so we learn that even if we're 100% not at fault, we have to pay the deductable to get our insurance(state farm) to do anything.

So called the offending partys insurance USAA, they tried to send a tow truck the next day and will bring it to a shop and take care of everything. Took a week to get a tow truck out, twice the tow company couldn't find the car, i said it's the only red car in the complex (under a garage port) w/ no fucking bumper.

damage is around 6k, we get the car next week, on a related matter, the car was shipped from nj to ks and there was excessive roof dmg, i got a quote (from the same body shop, since it was there anyway) and it's 1k to fix the dmg, shipping company has been a bitch to deal w/.

body shop guy even told me that i should only ask for a check from the shipping company, or i can go ahead and get statefarm involved.
 

Siliconemelons

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Always, your fault or not - go to a shop you want.

Think GEICO would have taken mine to an infiniti certified body shop? newp - I was like "no, it goes were I want"

It is frustrating to deal with all of this.

as for my diminished value - nothing has proceeded, I have not written them back, nor called UBERs insurance - I need to get those things done- but back to school time is busy.

I am thinking wreckcheck.com is the service I am going to use, they list they have a supporting database of retail transactions to support the claim value - that's what GEICO stated they wanted- they have claim support and lawyers also, if needed to escalate.
 

Lanx

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so after two months, the car shipping company will write me a check directly for a 1k quote.

now, i'm not trying to be cheap, but can i just pocket this cheque and fix the paint on my roof at my leisure? cuz i haven't had my car for over a month on a non related fender bender, and would rather just have two cars again. (it'd take over 6hours of quoted worked to repaint, and a week in shop)
 

Hatorade

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so after two months, the car shipping company will write me a check directly for a 1k quote.

now, i'm not trying to be cheap, but can i just pocket this cheque and fix the paint on my roof at my leisure? cuz i haven't had my car for over a month on a non related fender bender, and would rather just have two cars again. (it'd take over 6hours of quoted worked to repaint, and a week in shop)

Correct, if the check is made out to you.
 
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