Insurance Advice after an Accident.

[jimmillion]

Hey guys I'm gonna need a little advice on this one. Originally I wasn't going to post anything since it seemed like a simple write off and claim, but today things got interesting. Lets start from the beginning.


Back on Monday my mom was borrowing my 2000 Accord to run some errands around town. While stopped on a road to wait for a dump truck to back into a field a guy in a 1986 GMC truck wasn't paying attention and rear ended her. Both my mom and the other driver are fine, no injures.

Pictures below:
Thats my poor little Accord below.


Thats his GMC with two cruisers parked behind and a witness giving his statement.


After an on scene collision reconstruction investigation the officer deemed that the collision was 100% his fault and that both cars will be towed to an impound lot until our insurances decide what to do with the cars. From seeing the chassis damage on my Accord I had a pretty good feeling that it would be written off, since I couldn't open either of the rear doors.

I called my insurance company to start a claim and things went pretty smoothly. I didn't have collision insurance, just liability, but since it was deemed his fault my insurance company reassured me that his insurance company would reimburse me for the value of my car. All is good... I suppose.

I received a call today from my claims rep saying that they looked into his insurance policy and it seemed to have been cancelled back in February due to non payment. He's been driving around with his cancelled pink slip, which doesn't expire until later this year. So as it stands he doesn't have auto insurance of any kind and I don't have collision insurance. My Claims Rep said that she's gonna try to do some digging and hopefully he has auto insurance else where (seems doubtful) and in the mean time she'll continue going through with the claim and wait for the ordered police report to come in before we go any further. She also kept saying they'll be "covering my claim" since this and this have come in and so on, what does "covering" entail?!


I know I could just ask her straight out if I'm getting reimbursed for my car or not, but she's explained it twice now and I feel a little silly since she's trying to spell it out as best she can...since i don't think it's as cut and dry as I want it to be.


thanks for any advice, I'm hopeful that this will all work out in the end, but it's hard not knowing what exactly is going on.

[D4ng3r]

Good to hear no-one got hurt. That guy should be in jail for not having insurance.

[Dadhawk]

Is it possible you have "uninsured motorist" coverage? That may be why your agent is saying it will be covered. It will be a PITA but you can also take him to court over the accident. Of course, he'll have to have money to pay even when you get the judgement.

[AlmostMDD]

If he's the kind of person that doesn't have insurance, he'd probably give you the run around after the court ordered him to pay anyway. It seems like your insurance company is going to help you out on this one. At least, that's how I interpreted the comment. Uninsured motorist insurance would make some sense.

[OrbitalEllipses]

If you have a lawyer buddy, or can afford to sue him...I would do it anyway just to ruin him. You might not get money back for your Accord, but you'll certainly make him wish he never hit you.

[slawdio]

Check your policy for "uninsured/under-insured motorist" as thats going to be your best friend right now...

[jimmillion]

Hey thanks for the reply guys, and you are right. I do have uninsured automobile coverage. It's making more sense now.


EDIT: I don't think I'll be taking him to court. It's shitty that this happened, but he's probably having to deal with the cops right now for driving without insurance. no need to rub salt into his wounds any further.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by JIMs|a|MILLION

EDIT: I don't think I'll be taking him to court. It's shitty that this happened, but he's probably having to deal with the cops right now for driving without insurance. no need to rub salt into his wounds any further.

There's a good chance your insurance company may do that anyway if they pay out the claim since he was at fault.

[BioRage]

Good excuse to get a FR-S or a BRZ now.

How come you don't have full-coverage? Better be safe than sorry..

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by BioRage

...How come you don't have full-coverage? Better be safe than sorry..

Yea, I always carry Collision on my vehicles, even my last DD when it had 289,000+ miles on it. Bottom line for me anyway is that if I lose it, most likely I'm going to have to replace it, and usually the ROI on self-insuring at any given time is usually several years.

I know others feel differently, but I lost a car once that I did not have collision on (somebody ran me off the road, but of course, I had no proof that's what happened) and learned my lesson the hard way. It was only a $2,000 car but it was a lot of money to me at the time.

[fistpoint]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

There's a good chance your insurance company may do that anyway if they pay out the claim since he was at fault.

That is correct. This happened to me many years ago and your insurance will go after the guy. There is nothing the OP has to do except haggle with the payout. That part sucks because it's his insurance he'll be arguing with if they lowball him(most likely you'll be happy).

[gerry.witt19]

Thankfully no one got hurt. I have the AARP home auto insurance. Call me paranoid but I sprung for the uninsured motorist coverage because I’m always worried about getting hit by someone without insurance. I hope you get covered, I really do. If not, I’d advice getting an attorney involved.