Car Accident - Advice

[clj1410]

IDK what the law is in NJ, but in NY adjusters have 48 hours to inspect your vehicle, and that same limit applies to suppliments. (weekends don't count)

I would call your company, and tell them how long it has been since they were contacted about the additional damage, and find out what is taking so long.

I'm also wondering why 4 weeks to repair?? That is a very long time, even with $13000 in repairs. I own a shop, and the $19000 repair we had a few years back took only 2 weeks, and we had to wait for the company that modifies the van bodies to send us a roof. (it was an ambulance)

It's too late now I know, but you (everyone) should always choose their own shop, not just go to whomever the insurance company tells you to use. That shop works for the insurance company, they don't work for you. To become a "Direct Repair" shop, you have to agree to all kinds of money-saving short cuts, including cheaper parts, regardless of what the customer wants. And all reputable repair shops will warranty their work.

Good luck with everything!! You may lose a bit of value on the car, but only if you plan not to keep it long. I always run my vehicles until they don't run anymore (almost), so I wouldn't be affected I guess.

Thanks

My DH is calling the insurance company again today, to see what progress has been made, not holding my breath!

We did actually choose where we wanted the van fixed. The collision center that we choose is acutally in the center of an "auto land" so that way they would have access to Honda parts. The guy we are working with at the collision center said he would probably be able to negotiate with the Honda dealership to get Honda parts at the same price as aftermarket parts, lets hope so!

 

[clj1410]

I live in NJ and I was hit in a parking lot. The dent was minor, but expensive. I had the option of going through my insurance and they would go after the party at fault or though the person that hit me. I went through the other persons insuarnce, buy my company was aware, and said to call them at any time.

Now the other company said they would only pay for an economy car. Well I called them and said I hve an SUV, I need a four door car that is going to accomodate my family and my tall husband. A tiny car would not do it. They covered the rental...granted it was only a few days.

Why are you going through your insxurance? Since the other company is at fault call, them directly, they have to cover your rental. It doesn't matter that your insurance doesn't...the other company is paying since their client is at fault.

We went through our insurance company, for several reasons.

Firstly because we were told it would be much quicker, geez i would hate to see how long it would have taken if we had gone through the other parties insurance!

Also at the accident my DH did not write down the other guys insurance info, as the police arrived very quickly and took care of everything, so DH didn't think he needed to get it too.

We have had the small car for 3 weeks, so i am wondering if we can get something bigger at this point and will the other parties insurance cover both rentals (small car for 3 weeks and then the bigger car for the next 4+ weeks) if we upgrade

Again this was the first accident that he was involved in and we are learning by our mistakes.....

Add rental insurance on to our policy
Always get the other parties insurance info, because police reports take a long time to come through!

 

[clj1410]

Not so in NY. Insurers have 5 business days to look at an insureds vehicle. If it's a claimnants vehicle, they just have to look at 80% of them within 30 days.

In NJ: from state.nj.us/dobi/ins_ombusdsman/wysk1.mtm#4

They did inspect it the first time 7 days after the accident, they just have not re-inspected it since it went to our auto body shop and there is additional damage.

 

[Muushka]

Thanks

My DH is calling the insurance company again today, to see what progress has been made, not holding my breath!

We did actually choose where we wanted the van fixed. The collision center that we choose is acutally in the center of an "auto land" so that way they would have access to Honda parts. The guy we are working with at the collision center said he would probably be able to negotiate with the Honda dealership to get Honda parts at the same price as aftermarket parts, lets hope so!

Not to belabor the good insurance company rant that I am on, but I will tell you my experience.

I was hit from behind. The person at fault had State Farm. They gave an estimate that was half of what I got from my auto body place.

My insurance company told me to not pay any attention to what State Farm said and go where I want and they would go after them for the difference. I did as they said and I never paid anything extra for the repairs.

 

[AZMermaid]

What company are you renting from? If it is Enterprise or Hertz, call them immediately and give them the claim number from the other guys insurance. Because your car was not driveable, the insurance company should back date the rental to when it started. This will also change the rate to a lower rate. A focus likely rents for like $24.99 a day through insurance, but no weekly rates. It has been a few years since I worked for Enterrpise, so it might be a bit higher.

As far as the "comparable vehicle," it depends on the other guys company. All they are required to pay for is transportation, so like a focus. Most of the bigger guys, will pay for something a little closer, generally one step down is where they start- so like a Taurus. If you can tell them you have a NEED for a van, they will likely approve it. Some of the cheaper companies won't budge. Geico comes to mind. They only reimburse after the rental is over and will only do so for a max of $25 a day, after tax. So that gets you a compact car. We had a customer that had 6 kids. Their subruban was hit by a Geico insured person. They had the rental for 6 weeks and Geico did end up letting us bill them directly, which was rare for them. But, only $25 a day. They had to pay the $20 a day difference. Now, again, this was about 5 years ago, so maybe Geico has improved, but they were not the only one.

if you are not renting at Enterprise or Hertz, you may need to turn in that rental and go rent from one of them because they do a large volume of insurance rentals, Enterprise does a lot more than Hertz. Ask the adjuster.

And as a pp stated, the damage has to be 80% of the value of the car for the car to be totaled.

 

[clj1410]

What company are you renting from? If it is Enterprise or Hertz, call them immediately and give them the claim number from the other guys insurance. Because your car was not driveable, the insurance company should back date the rental to when it started. This will also change the rate to a lower rate. A focus likely rents for like $24.99 a day through insurance, but no weekly rates. It has been a few years since I worked for Enterrpise, so it might be a bit higher.

As far as the "comparable vehicle," it depends on the other guys company. All they are required to pay for is transportation, so like a focus. Most of the bigger guys, will pay for something a little closer, generally one step down is where they start- so like a Taurus. If you can tell them you have a NEED for a van, they will likely approve it. Some of the cheaper companies won't budge. Geico comes to mind. They only reimburse after the rental is over and will only do so for a max of $25 a day, after tax. So that gets you a compact car. We had a customer that had 6 kids. Their subruban was hit by a Geico insured person. They had the rental for 6 weeks and Geico did end up letting us bill them directly, which was rare for them. But, only $25 a day. They had to pay the $20 a day difference. Now, again, this was about 5 years ago, so maybe Geico has improved, but they were not the only one.

if you are not renting at Enterprise or Hertz, you may need to turn in that rental and go rent from one of them because they do a large volume of insurance rentals, Enterprise does a lot more than Hertz. Ask the adjuster.

And as a pp stated, the damage has to be 80% of the value of the car for the car to be totaled.

We are the ones with Geico

The other guy has USAA, at this point i would just be happy to know that my rental car is going to be paid for!

We are renting from Avis, as it was cheaper, but maybe i should switch the rental to Enterprise?

 

[AZMermaid]

USAA is generally pretty easy to work with. I would call the adjuster and see if they can get a direct bill from Avis (meaning they pay Avis directly instead of having to reimburse you). They might and then you can just stick with them. If not, ask them who they can direct bill with and if you can get a van. I know they will pay Enterprise directly.

I am not saying Geico was bad, just a PITA if they hit you and you need a rental and you have no money to pay for one!

 

[clj1410]

Finally seemed to get a little progress today, well if you can call it that!

My ins co spoke with USAA, USAA is still conducting their investigation, so therefor they have not assigned liability. Also apparently USAA needs to get a statement from my DH and the driver of the car my DH hit. They haven't called us to get this, as they do not have our phone number!!!!

If they do accept liability, they will only accept direct billing from Enterprise, so i guess i will turn my car in to Avis and then go to Enterprise.

The adjuster went to look at the van today, to assess the supplement damages. He estimated them to be $6600, which is in addition to the $6600 that they estimated at the original inspection. So i am thinking we are at about 67% of the value of the van, but then i do not know what they estimated the valve of the van to be so i am just guessing!

 

[leebee]

You never can tell with insurance companies. Earlier this year, just after I had backed out of my driveway and was shifting into drive, the lady across the street backed out of her driveway and directly into the side of my minivan, denting both the driver's side sliding door and the left rear side of the van. She admitted fault, DH called our insurance company (Liberty Mutual), she called her company (Progressive). We let Progressive cover everything, as we were not at fault in any way. It was a breeze. The work was done by a local repair shop with a very good reputation; door and rear panel had to be replaced and the entire side repainted. It took about a week. The insurance rental, through Enterprise, was an SUV. Mind you, there are only 3 of us, DH has his own car, so we could have made do with anything, but there it was: a brand new Kia Sorrento SUV. Sweet! The repairs were delayed as they had to wait for the parts, and it looked like we might not have the van back in time for our family vacation. Progressive said it'd be no problem, if the van wasn't fixed they'd extend the rental period to the end of vacation so even if the van was ready before we got back home, they'd still cover the rental. Seriously! I couldn't believe it! Our van was ready before vacation (day before, pretty close...) so no problem anyhow, but Progressive couldn't have been better or easier to deal with, so much so that we are getting quotes from them for comparable home and vehicle coverage and thinking of switching. They were great, and except for the first day hassle, being hit by the neighbor was really not a big deal at all!

 

[arihillfarm]

The at-fault driver's insurance should be paying for your car rental, and it should be a comparable vehicle.

Yes, this. I had a lady hit my car in a parking lot as she was pulling in (minor damage really) and her insurance co. is paying for a minivan to replace my Yukon XL while it is in the shop. All I had to do was drop my car off at the dealer and the car rental co. came to pick me up in the rental (so I didn't have to install car seats twice). I showed my driver's license, signed a couple of things and was on my way.

I wanted to add that the minivan rental is through Enterprise and the cost to the other driver's insurance co. is $36.50 per day, so definitely get a rental from Enterprise and get it charged to the claim so you don't have to pay out of pocket for it anymore. They should also reimburse you for what you've paid on a rental thus far.

-Astrid

 

[taximomfor4]

You never can tell with insurance companies. Earlier this year, just after I had backed out of my driveway and was shifting into drive, the lady across the street backed out of her driveway and directly into the side of my minivan, denting both the driver's side sliding door and the left rear side of the van. She admitted fault, DH called our insurance company (Liberty Mutual), she called her company (Progressive). We let Progressive cover everything, as we were not at fault in any way. It was a breeze. The work was done by a local repair shop with a very good reputation; door and rear panel had to be replaced and the entire side repainted. It took about a week. The insurance rental, through Enterprise, was an SUV. Mind you, there are only 3 of us, DH has his own car, so we could have made do with anything, but there it was: a brand new Kia Sorrento SUV. Sweet! The repairs were delayed as they had to wait for the parts, and it looked like we might not have the van back in time for our family vacation. Progressive said it'd be no problem, if the van wasn't fixed they'd extend the rental period to the end of vacation so even if the van was ready before we got back home, they'd still cover the rental. Seriously! I couldn't believe it! Our van was ready before vacation (day before, pretty close...) so no problem anyhow, but Progressive couldn't have been better or easier to deal with, so much so that we are getting quotes from them for comparable home and vehicle coverage and thinking of switching. They were great, and except for the first day hassle, being hit by the neighbor was really not a big deal at all!

not the op, but I'm yet another DISer in a recent accident!

PP, your situation sounds like a dream to me...they offered to extend your rental!! Because no liability has been assigned in my accident yet (NOT my fault, I had zero way to avoid collision), I am going through my own ins co right now. The collision shop that has my van (2 states away!!) sent my ins co the estimate, the ins co approved it, and is sending the check (minus my deductible) made out to me and the collision shop to MY address. When the van is done, I take my one-way rental and drive, sign the check and also pay my deductible to the collision shop, and drive away in my now-repaired van. Problem: the shop is running ahead of schedule, and the van might be done tomorrow (Saturday). The ins co will NOT extend my rental till their stupid check arrives. Praying, praying, praying it arrives today. If it arrives tomorrow, it will be too late to get to the collision shop before it closes (several hours away). And closed on Sunday, so stuck paying rental on my own till Monday.

Cross fingers for me, that the check magically arrives today!!( or that the van repair completion is magically delayed till monday).

Shopping for a new ins co after this accident.

 

[tinkarooni]

Everyy time I see threads like these I jump on. Claims adjuster here for 16+ years. I always post because there is so much misinformation out there in general.

These are the laws generally, I did handle claims in NJ but not for about 10 years. In general cars are totalled when the damage reaches 80% of the value of the vehicle. With as much damage as you may have I would speak to the shop you choose and ask them if they think there will be a supplement. If they have completed the tear down of the car and your est is done than it probably can not be a total. If there is the possibility of hidden damagw your shop should be able to tell you.

The at fault party insurance will owe you a rental "if" they accept liability. They owe you transportation only, they do not owe you a comparable car to what you have. If you have a car for a certain reason, need room for enough car seats, 4 wheel drive to get up your snowy driveway in the winter etc, more than likely the insurance company will accomodate you. Please don't be the woman I spoke to two weeks ago who told me that she drove a mercedes and that I had ruined her car (me, really) and that a rental mercedes had better be delivered to her driveway by the end of the business day.

So the liability decision they are still working on for you because they want to make sure your husband didn't hit the car in front of him first. They want to talk to that driver to see how many impacts he felt, two than your DH is going to be partially responsible, one and the guy behind him should be found at fault.

You may want to just consider using your insurance at this point. Geico will pay for your damages and go after the at fault party. Remind them that you have out of pocket rental expenses and you expect them to recover those for you as well. I do not believe diminished value of your car is something that can be recoveed in nj unless you purchased that coverage through your own insurance.

I wouldn't go to the trouble of returning your rental car until somebody says they are going to pay for it.

 

[tinkarooni]

Good luck OP

 

[C-CMom]

The diminished value issue can certainly be tricky, but we did recover diminished value for our 2 year-old vehicle that was hit by another driver.

The other driver was clearly at fault with witness and admitted fault. One significant issue was that the at-fault driver was from another state, and we were all in a third state - so which laws apply? Anyway, their insurance paid equivalent rental car fee (SUV cost to SUV cost) without much difficulty, but MANY discussions were needed before the contact person would even admit to knowledge of the concept of diminished value. Notwithstanding applicable state laws or precedent, turns out there was a formula and protocol to be used in such cases for their company, and the amount remitted to us was fair. Even though a diminished value clause was not written into our own comprehensive/collision policy or even the comprehensive/collision portion of the other driver's policy, that did not reduce their liability for damage to our vehicle.

 

[clj1410]

Everyy time I see threads like these I jump on. Claims adjuster here for 16+ years. I always post because there is so much misinformation out there in general.

These are the laws generally, I did handle claims in NJ but not for about 10 years. In general cars are totalled when the damage reaches 80% of the value of the vehicle. With as much damage as you may have I would speak to the shop you choose and ask them if they think there will be a supplement. If they have completed the tear down of the car and your est is done than it probably can not be a total. If there is the possibility of hidden damagw your shop should be able to tell you.

The at fault party insurance will owe you a rental "if" they accept liability. They owe you transportation only, they do not owe you a comparable car to what you have. If you have a car for a certain reason, need room for enough car seats, 4 wheel drive to get up your snowy driveway in the winter etc, more than likely the insurance company will accomodate you. Please don't be the woman I spoke to two weeks ago who told me that she drove a mercedes and that I had ruined her car (me, really) and that a rental mercedes had better be delivered to her driveway by the end of the business day.

So the liability decision they are still working on for you because they want to make sure your husband didn't hit the car in front of him first. They want to talk to that driver to see how many impacts he felt, two than your DH is going to be partially responsible, one and the guy behind him should be found at fault.

You may want to just consider using your insurance at this point. Geico will pay for your damages and go after the at fault party. Remind them that you have out of pocket rental expenses and you expect them to recover those for you as well. I do not believe diminished value of your car is something that can be recoveed in nj unless you purchased that coverage through your own insurance.

I wouldn't go to the trouble of returning your rental car until somebody says they are going to pay for it.

Thanks for the info

The body shop did tear down the van and really do not expect any additional major damage, maybe just small $ parts.

How long does the other car insurance have to complete their investigation? It just annoys me because they are waiting on statements for all parties, but have not obtained them because they do not have phone numbers!! They do have the police report with everyones name, address etc on it! Really come on, geez i bet i could go on Google and find all the phone numbers. My insurance was able to obtain phone numbers and statements no problem!

We did turn it the rental car today and on Monday we are getting a car from Enterprise. We decided to stick with a small car, just because we do not have the money to pay out of pocket for anything bigger.

 

[tinkarooni]

Thanks for the info

The body shop did tear down the van and really do not expect any additional major damage, maybe just small $ parts.

How long does the other car insurance have to complete their investigation? It just annoys me because they are waiting on statements for all parties, but have not obtained them because they do not have phone numbers!! They do have the police report with everyones name, address etc on it! Really come on, geez i bet i could go on Google and find all the phone numbers. My insurance was able to obtain phone numbers and statements no problem!

We did turn it the rental car today and on Monday we are getting a car from Enterprise. We decided to stick with a small car, just because we do not have the money to pay out of pocket for anything bigger.

How long they can take to investigate is difficult. The insurance company owes a duty to their insured to properly investigate a claim before they accept liability, failure to do so is called bad faith and their insd can sue them. Now some states have bad faith laws where a third party such as yourself has rights and can also claim bad faith, the state of florida comes to mind, but I don't think nj is one of thise states. Your insurance agent can tell you.