Car accident -- fighting w/ insurance

[Cheshire Figment]

That would be fine with us, however Progressive is going to subtract the cost of their "time" spent assessing our car from whatever they'd settle for with our insurance.

This sounds like something illegal.

The person who was involved is at fault and responsible for "making you whole". The cost of the other insurance company "assessing the damage" is part of their cost of doing business. And If an attorney gets involved to have to get you what you are entitled to get, the amount of the award will be increased to cover the attorney fees.

I would suggest you contact the person at Progressive you have been dealing with and ask them to give you a written statement, on their letterhead, that they will do as threatened and see how quickly they back off.

Your insurance company is looking out for your interest. The other insurance company is looking out for their profits.

 

[seashoreCM]

I think I'm a bit slow on the uptake tonight, but I don't think I understand the point you're trying to make?

No, you would not make an offer on a new car but you would report a few rejections of your offer as evidence that the insurance company's offer was unreasonably low.

YOu do not have to accept your insurance company's making a deduction for their time but you would be out your deductible if you go through your own insurance company and they do not go far enough to collect the deductible from the other party of his insurance company.

 

[Pea's Mom]

Former claims adjuster here, I realize it's been a little awhile since I've handled claims however I have NEVER heard of a company subtracting their time spent on a claim. That's what the insurance company is there for. It is always the claimant's choice whether to accept an offer or take the claim to their own company. We would just close out our file and the subrogation department would wait to hear from the other company. This adjuster needs to grow up and do his job. If I ever offered money based on "phantom vehicles" I would have been bounced out on my butt in a heartbeat. Good Luck to you OP !!

 

[Jeff_G]

I would go the lawyer route, you will get your legal expenses covered. It may be as simple as having a lawyer draft up a letter to them or they may take it all the way to court. Start documenting everything to build your case. Bottom line the other driver if at fault as must pay to make you whole, his insurance will cover him upto the state required limited for liability insurance which all of this should be under…

 

[LovableGluttons]

I think you're right, unfortunately.

I have a doctor's appointment for Monday. My left shoulder where the seatbelt caught me is still sore and honestly, I think it's just a deep bruise (you wouldn't really be able to see the bruising anyways since it's under a tattoo), but at this point I'd rather be safe than sorry.

A medical claims person contacted me and offered to leave a credit of $1500 open to pay for any medical bills, plus $250 for the inconvenience of having to see the doctor. I told her I'd rather not make a decision to close at this point since I don't know what's wrong medically & I'm unfamiliar with how the whole process works. I don't know whether that was the right answer or not.

My neck and back were so stiff the first three days after my accident, I didn't know my shoulder was injured. I did have a big, ugly bruise and abrasion from my seat belt and the clip on my id badge on my left neck and chest area.

When the muscle strain went away, the shoulder pain was just awful.


Please get it looked at.

 

[Leajess99]

I think you're right, unfortunately.

And by hiring an attorney, we've just lost all of the money that he'd be able to get us in fees. We wouldn't be any further ahead than we are now.

I'm going to try one last ditch effort today & email the claims adjuster with attachments of KBB, NADA & cars.com/autotrader search results showing that their numbers are off and a couple of other argument points that I've thought of with their method of "assessing real market value". I'm going to ask for $14,000, which is still less than the value of comparable cars but, tbh, I just want this over with.

Yesterday I had the resolve to take it as far as I could in an effort to be treated fairly but today, I'm just done. Since this accident has happened, DH got a new job (counter-offered on their offer & they happily accepted it! ) and all the celebration and preparation we should be doing has been completely ignored because of this. I haven't been sleeping because I've been laying awake in bed, completely furious and trying to think of other options. My blood pressure shoots through the roof to the point that my chest hurts whenever I have to talk to the adjuster (ok, so I don't handle my anger well, lol). I'm over it. I know I'm getting screwed over, but I'm caving and I hate that I am.

I have a doctor's appointment for Monday. My left shoulder where the seatbelt caught me is still sore and honestly, I think it's just a deep bruise (you wouldn't really be able to see the bruising anyways since it's under a tattoo), but at this point I'd rather be safe than sorry.

A medical claims person contacted me and offered to leave a credit of $1500 open to pay for any medical bills, plus $250 for the inconvenience of having to see the doctor. I told her I'd rather not make a decision to close at this point since I don't know what's wrong medically & I'm unfamiliar with how the whole process works. I don't know whether that was the right answer or not.

I would seriously be asking for a supervisor at Progressive if you decide to try again. It sounds like the adjuster is just trying to get you to go away with as little as possible.

As for the medical, do not agree to anything until your doctor agrees that your medical treatment (if needed) is done.

 

[rock_doctor]

You may also consider contacting your state insurance governing organization. I would suspect Ohio has a group that pays attention to what the insurance companies, that do business in the state, are doing. If progressive thinks you will make trouble for them then they will be more willing to work with you. I would start with a phone call to your attorney generals office. Tell them what is going on and ask for suggestions.

 

[kris.felix]

Your insurance company needs to fight to get you what you deserve. That’s what you hired them for right? It seems very clear that the other party is in the wrong and it should not be too difficult to prove. Have you checked with your car insurance agent? Another thing that might help you get a better deal out of this situation is aggravating your shoulder pain into a complete whiplash injury. Whiplashes can cost the insurance companies anywhere between $500 to more than $5000 in claims. I know because my friend had claimed from The Hartford for a whiplash injury after her accident last year. Maybe this is something you can explore?

 

[MELISAZACK]

thats wonderful advise to give someone..
aggravated your shoulder pain to whiplash to get more money out of the insurance company = Insurance Fraud.
They company I work with has gotten so many people for that it is be coming hysterical -we see new communications weekly now and who they have gotten now doing just that.

I dont' recommend it. But to each their own.

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

It's not always that way, my daughter totaled a 2 year old car 2 weeks after she bought it. The insurance company gave a few hundred dollars more then we actually paid for the car.

We had this same experience with our own insurance company (Traveler's).

DS totalled DH's car and DH ended up with over $1k more than he had paid for it.

It also did not affect our insurance rates at all!

I'll never understand how insurance works!

 

[NYEmomma]

Thank you guys SOOO much for all the wonderfully helpful advice and PM's. I can't even tell you how much I appreciate it. Neither DH & I had been in a situation like this before, nor did we know anyone that had experienced an accident with a total loss... we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off & had no one to give us any guidance. I told DH everything you guys said on here, researched the points you made & it really, really helped us to reach a fair conclusion.

We had our insurance company do an appraisal on the vehicle. We also spoke to a supervisor re: Progressive taking money off the top for the expense associated with their time spent. Turns out, as you guys so wisely pointed out, that the first person we talked to was wrong.

OUR insurance adjuster gave us over $1000 more than Progressive's "best offer" and didn't deduct anything for the "excessive wear & tear" on the vehicle that Progressive found.

I think we could've gotten a little more & we did have some difficulty finding a comparable vehicle with the money that we had, but IMO, we were being treated fairly enough by our insurance that I was happy to settle it & get it over with. I ended up buying a Toyota Rav 4. Smaller than my Santa Fe and not as nice of a ride, but it has 30k less miles on it & gets better gas mileage. Our payments are higher now, but with the money we save in gas, we're breaking even.

I did see the doctor for my shoulder. He said the ligaments in my shoulder were strained & that it could take several weeks to feel back to normal. He gave me a script for an anti-inflammatory and one for an x-ray if it's not starting to feel better. He also recommended doing some light strength training, which I'd actually been avoiding because I thought it would make it worse. Since working out with the weights again, it's feeling stronger so I don't think I'll get the x-ray. Most days it feels back to normal -- just by the end of the day, it's feeling a little more "tired" than my other shoulder.

Thanks again for all the great advice everyone. We would've gotten totally screwed over if it weren't for you!