post car accident advice

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andaval

100+ Posts
So I was stopped at a red light in my 3 month old car, when another driver rear-ended me. No one appears to be injured, but I think I'm still coming down from the adrenaline rush. He claims (and I believe him) that another car swerved into his lane distracting him, which resulted in him hitting my car. Anyway, my car is not drivable (rear wheels are pinched), but the towers thought it wasn't totaled. I have been in contact with his insurance and my insurance companies, and now I want to make sure I get my car back fixed well. I've never been in a reportable accident before and I fear I'm going to be dealing with people whose jobs rely on screwing me over as best they can, so I would appreciate any advice on how to avoid that. Thanks everybody.
 
Did you call the cops? If you didn't..learn from that in the future. It is your insurance agent's job to help you get what you deserve (whether he is trying to screw you over is another story - that's why I chose a long-time neighbor of my parents). If it is his fault, and he has admitted it, you should be fine.

If at the end, you don't feel satisfied, file a complaint with the Dep't of Insurance. That's about all you can do.
 
Cops were on the scene -- that's standard in Oregon.

edit: His company - Progressive - has accepted liability.
 
I know nothing about Oregon law.

In Texas, I'd say go to therapy for about a year and then sue the driver for his policy limits.
 
Wife just got nailed today by an elderly man in Cedar Park.

Unfortunately, the cop was a complete idiot who had no clue. The man pulls out into traffic, crosses three lanes, and slams into the passenger side of my wife's car. The man was clearly disoriented and, after being pressed, claims my wife hit which is completely illogical given the condition of the two cars. He hit my wife in the middle of the passenger door and accelerated scraping all the way to the end of the front fender.

$2500 in damages but my wife is alright. We'll just hope for no trouble b/c the cop wasn't helpful in the least. He didn't even check if the elderly couple was alright. They couldn't have been under 80.
 
Rough estimate is 9k in damages -- which is expected to be over the limit of the other guy's insurance. State limit is 10k, so he must have had the minimum. D'oh. And I don't have rental reimbursement, which turns out to be especially useful in the case where they are underinsured.
 
do you have underinsured coverage on your insurance? that will cover you for whatever is over his limit.
 
$10K minimum limits? I thought Texas was bad at $15k.
that doesn't cover crap. Use you underinsured motorist coverage, if you have it.

Bookman, should have know you were an attorney with that comment.
wink.gif
 
I only have uninsured, so I don't think I have any kind of underinsured coverage. This kind of sucks, because apparently the damage is extensive enough to take weeks to repair and expensive enough that his insurance won't cover all of it (but of course not totaling the car). This means I get to pay the $500 deductible for using my collision and I'm probably on the hook for weeks of renting a car too, all for being stopped at a red light and getting hit by a guy *with* insurance. It would almost be better for me if he didn't have it, because my uninsured deductible is lower.
 
"$2500 in damages but my wife is alright."

Depending the age/value of your car, you may want to talk to the adjuster about diminished value.
 
So what's the deal with the right to be 'made whole'? Say there are 11k damages to my car, he has insurance up to 10k, I have a 500 dollar deductible and there's 400 for the rental. Am I out 900, or does that 900 come out of 10k first, leaving my insurance company covering 1900? Or is it somewhere in between?

Geez, I wonder how much the diminished value is for a 3 month old car with literally not a scratch on it that has extensive damage to the tune of 10k+ from an accident?

I wonder at what percent ACV Geico considers a car totaled? I'm starting to wonder if I'm close to that.
frown.gif
 
"Geez, I wonder how much the diminished value is for a 3 month old car with literally not a scratch on it"

You'll need to check on laws, case law, etc for Oregon.

In Texas you cannot collect for diminished value on a first party claim. You can collect on a third party claim or under UM/UIM in Texas.
 
I'm thinking the damages might be significantly over 10k at this point and the car might actually be close to being totaled. Ugh. I'm getting a dealership to look at it, we'll see what they say.
 
go to your own coverage..coll or uimpd... whatever.. ask progressive to pay your deductible to you up front.
your company will have the right to recover whatever they pay.
if i'm your adjuster-- your car is totalled. dim value claims are a total pain for adjusters. better to pay for a total loss and get the salvage value back later... same difference--less headache for all involved.
if oregon is the same as tx, your um will cover your rental up until the day your veh is determined to be a total and an offer to settle is made.
 
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